ESPN’s Brian Windhorst had some brutal things to say about the state of the Sacramento Kings on Thursday.
Windhorst offered an extended rant about the Kings on “NBA Today” Thursday, calling them a “bad organization” and blasting several decisions they have made over the last year. He laid much of the blame at ownership level, and suggested that nothing will change based on their recent decisions, including the trade of De’Aaron Fox to San Antonio.
“Domantas Sabonis gave his exit interview today … and he said, ‘We need to get a point guard.’ They just had a franchise point guard that they let the relationship go south on,” Windhorst said. “They had the Executive of the Year. The relationship went south. He knew he was getting fired.
“How many coaches did they go through in Sacramento over the last 17 years? They finally found a coach who put them on the right path in Mike Brown. They liked him so much, they gave him a contract extension last summer. They fired him two months into the season. This is the definition of why they have been a bad organization for decades.
Windhorst grew more animated as he discussed the decision to reunite Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan in Sacramento, even though the pair had not had any success together with the Chicago Bulls.
“I like Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan as players. They can be successful. They were very clearly a poor pairing in Chicago. It did not work. Not for five minutes over the course of years,” Windhorst said. “The Bulls moved on from both. The Kings brought them in. They had an alignment that worked, and they imported a pairing that didn’t work and is very expensive. They had a front office that was working — they disenfranchised them and drove them out of town. What are we doing here? Maybe it will work going forward, but why would you have faith in it?”
.@WindhorstESPN isn't optimistic about the current state of the Sacramento Kings.
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 17, 2025
"This is the definition of why they have been a bad organization for decades." 😕 pic.twitter.com/cQi4ne7qmM
This was certainly reminiscent of some of Windhorst’s best rants over the years. It is also impossible to dispute most of it. The Kings were criticized both for their firing of Brown and the manner in which they did it. Reports suggest they were undermining GM Monte McNair before ultimately firing him after their play-in loss.
In 2022-23, the Kings went 48-34 and appeared to have hit on something with Brown coaching the Fox-Sabonis pairing. Of those three, only Sabonis remains now, with Fox replaced by DeRozan and LaVine, both of whom are older and not as good. Windhorst is right that the future does not look very bright in Sacramento anymore.
