Sacramento Kings 2024-2025 fantasy basketball season recap: Sabonis shines despite changes

Yahoo

08-05-2025

While the NBA Playoffs are in full swing, now is a good time to recap the fantasy basketball season for all 30 teams.
In the following weeks, we will provide a recap for each team, starting with the team with the worst record and concluding with the NBA champion in June.
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Two years removed from ending their playoff drought, Sacramento moved on from the head coach and star point guard that led them there. With a new general manager and coach, the Kings will look for a fresh start.
Sacramento Kings 2024-25 Season Recap
Record: 40-42 (9th, West, lost in play-in)
Offensive Rating: 115.9 (7th)
Defensive Rating: 115.3 (22nd)
Net Rating: 0.6 (15th)
Pace: 98.91 (19th)
2024 Draft Picks: 3.8% chance at a top-four pick, 42
For the second straight season, Sacramento's season ended in the play-in tournament. However, the team that suited up looked a little different. Head coach Mike Brown, who helped the Kings end their playoff drought, was fired in December after a 13-18 start. He was replaced by Doug Christie, who was given a long-term contract by new general manager Scott Perry, who replaced Monte McNair. Of course, before firing McNair after the season, they allowed him to trade De'Aaron Fox to the Spurs.
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With the coach, GM and franchise player that ended Sacramento's playoff drought all gone, a new regime still has plenty of pieces to work with. They have a 3.8 percent chance of leaping into the top-four of the draft lottery and retaining their top-12 protected first-round pick. They acquired Zach LaVine in the deal that sent Fox to San Antonio, which gave them a team that was talented enough to make the play-in tournament, where they lost to Dallas in the 9-10 matchup. The expectations were certainly much higher after they signed DeMar DeRozan over the summer, but things just didn't work out that way.
Fantasy Standout: Domantas Sabonis
Once again, Sabonis was the best fantasy option in Sacramento. He averaged 19.1 points, 13.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists in 34.7 minutes per game across his 70 appearances. He provided second-round value in nine-cat leagues, which he has only done twice in his career. His assists dipped, but the rebounds were a new career high for one of the best rebounders in the league, and he led the league in boards for a third straight season.
There aren't too many players that can match Sabonis' combination of points, rebounds, assists and field goal percentage, and the ones that do are also among the elite players in fantasy basketball. At 29 years old, Sabonis' game should age well, so he still has many years of fantasy dominance ahead of him. Sacramento will need to make this team a contender to keep Sabonis happy, but regardless of what happens with the team, Sabonis will continue to be a dominant force in the fantasy landscape for years to come.
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Fantasy Revelation: Malik Monk
Monk had arguably the best season of his career, though his production was inconsistent. He had stretches of elite numbers, but he also really struggled at times. Across his 65 appearances, Monk averaged 17.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.1 three-pointers per game. The points, rebounds and assists were all the best marks of his career, which led to the first top-100 finish of his career.
Monk had a few stretches where he was one of the most productive players in the league, but he also struggled after Sacramento traded away De'Aaron Fox, which was surprising. He averaged 15.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and five assists with Zach LaVine in the lineup, and he shot just 41.9 percent from the floor during those games. Monk showcased brilliant production in the middle of the season, which provided optimism to what he could be moving forward. Though we were expecting his numbers to improve even more with the ball in his hands more after Fox's departure, he was still producing at a higher level than he ever had previously. Hopefully a healthy offseason will be what he needs to put together a full season of high-level numbers.
Fantasy Disappointment: Jonas Valanciunas
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It's difficult to be disappointed when you don't really have any expectations, but Valanciunas best fits the bill for the Kings. He started off the season with Washington, where he signed over the summer. He was dealt to Sacramento at the deadline and made 32 appearances for them, including nine starts. He averaged 8.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists in just 16.9 minutes per game.
Valanciunas had a Yahoo ADP of 89.4, but the only time he produced to that level was when Domantas Sabonis was sidelined for a few games in March. I wasn't optimistic about Valanciunas this season, but he was supposed to be the starting center in Washington, with rookie Alexandre Sarr playing power forward. Valanciunas was a part-time starter with the Wizards and played a minimal role for the Kings. He's past his days of being a significant contributor in fantasy basketball, aside from being a decent source of rebounds when he gets the chance to start.
Fantasy Recaps/Look-Aheads
DeMar DeRozan
DeRozan signed with Sacramento last summer and played in 77 games in his first season with the Kings. He averaged 22.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 triples in 35.9 minutes per game. DeRozan will be 36 years old at the start of next season, so there are certainly questions about how much longer he will keep playing. However, he had another strong season, even if his production dipped slightly, and he scored 33 points in their play-in loss to Dallas.
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DeRozan still has two seasons left on his contract with Sacramento, and he should at least play that out before making any career decisions. He has played at least 36 minutes per game and made at least 74 appearances in each of his last four seasons. Hopefully that trend will continue next season.
Zach LaVine
LaVine's time with the Bulls finally came to an end ahead of February's trade deadline. He made 32 appearances for Sacramento and averaged 22.4 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 3.2 threes per game. He was the main piece that the Kings got back when they moved De'Aaron Fox, and while it took him a few games to get comfortable with his new team, LaVine had some excellent performances for Sacramento.
On the wrong side of 30, LaVine is still an elite athlete, but he continues to get better as a scorer, which should help him stay effective as he continues to age. The fit in Sacramento is clunky without a true point guard, but they have multiple players that are effective playmakers. LaVine is one of them, and he should have the ball in his hands a ton next season.
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Keegan Murray
Year three was a disappointing one for Murray, who saw his role on offense decrease. He averaged 12.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and two triples in 34.3 minutes per game across his 76 appearances. Murray played well as a rookie and made improvements in year two, but the addition of DeMar DeRozan resulted in fewer opportunities for Murray to grow.
He'll be 25 at the start of next season, so there is still time for him to improve, but even if he doesn't take drastic strides, he'll still be a solid NBA player for a very long time. Unfortunately, with the way the roster is currently constructed, Murray may end up as a low-priority option once again. We'll see what changes are made this summer, but the odds of Murray having a bounce back season are low.
Keon Ellis
Ellis didn't see his role increase as much as we hoped, but he still saw his minutes and production take a step forward this season. He averaged 8.3 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.9 threes in 24.4 minutes per game. He ended the 2023-24 season playing incredibly well as a starter, but he didn't keep the job entering this season. He saw a few starts throughout the year, but he didn't become a full-time starter again until the final few weeks of the season. He averaged 9.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.1 steals, 0.9 blocks and two triples per game across his 28 starts.
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Assuming he continues to start next season, Ellis has the upside to be an excellent late-round pick. The defensive production is incredible, and he's able to space the floor without needing the ball in his hands a lot, which will allow him to fit well next to LaVine, DeRozan and Sabonis. Coach Doug Christie seems to really like Ellis, so it will depend on what moves the team makes this summer.
Jake LaRavia
LaRavia was dealt to the Kings at the deadline and suited up 19 times for them, averaging 6.1 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.1 triples in 19.3 minutes per game. Now, he's set to enter unrestricted free agency. The former Grizzly saw his role decrease with the Kings, even though he had less competition for minutes; the starters in Sacramento played more minutes than the starters in Memphis. If LaRavia returns, he'll be a young depth piece for them, but he likely won't play enough to contribute in fantasy basketball. The best path to fantasy relevance for him will be with a new team.
Trey Lyles
Once again, Lyles was a solid depth piece for the Kings. He averaged 6.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 threes in 19.6 minutes per game. He has spent the last four seasons with Sacramento but could opt for a new home this summer. If he returns, he'll continue to play a significant reserve role for them, though with Sabonis in front of him, that doesn't lead to much production. Regardless of where Lyles ends up, he'll only be relevant as a streaming option when the starter in front of him is injured.
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Devin Carter
The rookie's debut was delayed by offseason shoulder surgery, and he didn't suit up until January. He played 36 games, but he was never able to establish a rhythm. He averaged just 3.8 points, 2.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 11 minutes per game. Carter was excellent during his junior season at Providence, which led to him being drafted in the lottery. He also dominated during his five G League appearances, where he averaged 26.6 points, 9.6 rebounds, 5.4 assists, 1.6 steals, 1.2 blocks and 3.8 threes per game. He should play a larger role in year two after a healthy offseason.
Restricted Free Agents: Markelle Fultz, Isaiah Crawford, Mason Jones
Unrestricted Free Agents: Trey Lyles, Jake LaRavia, Doug McDermott, Jae Crowder
Team Option: Keon Ellis, Isaac Jones