Sacramento Kings preseason schedule bringing NBA stars, playoff teams to Golden 1 Center
The Kings want to end their playoff drought this season and they won’t have to wait long to test themselves against some of the best in the West.
The Kings unveiled their preseason schedule Thursday with four games — two at home, two on the road — all against Western Conference playoff teams. The Kings will play the Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers, who will come into Sacramento with a star-studded cast featuring LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Marc Gasol and Dwight Howard.
Tickets for preseason games at Golden 1 Center will go on sale Aug. 23. Fans can get presale access before the general public by signing up at Kings.com.
The Kings will face the Suns, the defending Western Conference champions, in their preseason opener Oct. 4 at Golden 1 Center. Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton led the Suns to the NBA Finals in July before they lost a six-game series to the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Kings will visit the Clippers on Oct. 6 at Staples Center. The Clippers were the No. 4 seed in the playoffs last season. They will be without star Kawhi Leonard, who could miss the entire 2021-22 season after having surgery to repair a partially torn ACL.
Sacramento will travel north to play the Trail Blazers Oct. 11 at Moda Center in Portland. The Blazers, the No. 6 seed last season, fired coach Terry Stotts and hired Chauncey Billups after losing in the first round of the playoffs for the fourth time in five years.
The Kings will conclude their preseason schedule at home against the Lakers on Oct. 14. The Lakers finished seventh in the West last season after James and Davis missed significant time due to injuries, but they’ve added reinforcements with Westbrook, Anthony, Howard, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza and Kent Bazemore.
Sacramento went 31-41 to tie the New Orleans Pelicans for 11th in the Western Conference last season, missing the play-in by two games. The Kings missed the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season, matching the longest postseason drought in NBA history.
The Kings will add rookie Davion Mitchell, the No. 9 pick in last month’s NBA draft and co-MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League, to a core group that includes De’Aaron Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Marvin Bagley III and Richaun Holmes.
