These impressive stats from Russell Westbrook highlight what’s wrong with Sacramento
The The Sacramento Kings aren’t exactly has been a big success so far in the 2025-26 NBA season, currently 12-32 after a recent home loss to the Miami Heat. Although the Kings recently put together a four-game winning streak, including victories over the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers, they are still expected to be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline.
Russell Westbrookwho was signed just before the start of the season, has been a rare bright spot for the Kings this year. In fact, StatMuse recently pointed out on X, formerly Twitter, that Westbrook is the only player in the NBA this season with at least 650 points, 250 assists, 250 rebounds and 60 steals, which more than proves that he’s still a capable NBA player, despite the fact that teams haven’t looked to sign him before.
However, this is exactly the problem for Sacramento, in that they rely too heavily on players like Westbrook and other veterans as opposed to stockpiling any young talent to give them something to build around moving forward.
Currently, Westbrook has 3-pointers, assists and rebounds with the Kings, and is second in steals. While that’s a great story for Westbrook, who is proving many of his doubters wrong, it also shows just how short-sighted the Kings’ front office has been about building the roster in the three years since their surprise playoff appearance in the 2023 campaign.
Sacramento has next to nothing in the way of young talent on its roster, with Keon Ellis and Keegan Murray being the two only somewhat viable rotation players who are 25 or younger on the team. Instead, the team relied heavily on players like DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Westbrook to do the heavy lifting, which is not a recipe for long-term success.
Either way, perhaps Westbrook’s uptick in production this year will convince a suitor to take a swing at him at the upcoming trade deadline, which is set for Feb. 5.
2026-01-21 16:49:00
