Sacramento Kings advance to NBA Summer League semifinals. Matchups set
The Sacramento Kings are one of four teams that will appear in Saturday’s NBA Summer League semifinals with a chance to advance to Sunday’s championship game.
The Kings qualified for the semifinals along with the Toronto Raptors, Oklahoma City Thunder and Charlotte Hornets. The fourth-seeded Kings will take on the top-seeded Raptors with the Thunder and Hornets facing off in the other semifinal.
Toronto, Oklahoma City, Charlotte and Sacramento all went 4-0 in preliminary play. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Atlanta Hawks also went 4-0.
The four semifinalists were determined based on point differential with the Raptors (+15.8), Thunder (+14.8), Hornets (+12.7) and Kings (+11.5) finishing ahead of the Timberwolves (+9.5) and Hawks (+8.0).
The Kings defeated the Orlando Magic, Chicago Bulls, Phoenix Suns and Cleveland Cavaliers in the preliminary rounds. Sacramento has been led by rookie first-round draft pick Nique Clifford, who is averaging 18.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting 58.3% from the field and 52.9% from 3-point range.
Devin Carter, the No. 13 pick in the 2024 NBA draft, is averaging 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.0 assists, shooting 45.8% from the field and 40.9% from long distance.
A.J. Lawson is averaging 20.7 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists for the Raptors. Ja’Kobe Walter is averaging 18.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.3 steals.
The Kings have won two Las Vegas Summer League championships. Ray McCallum Jr. was named championship game MVP when the Kings beat the Houston Rockets in the 2014 finals. Louis King won the championship game MVP award when the Kings defeated the Boston Celtics in the 2021 finals while Davion Mitchell shared tournament MVP honors with Brooklyn Nets guard Cameron Thomas.
This story was originally published July 17, 2025 at 10:38 PM.
