The Sacramento Kings have built their 2025-26 roster solely around experienced veterans, with their full-strength starting lineup of Russell Westbrook, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray, and Domantas Sabonis having an average age of 31.4 years.
Even with a veteran-filled lineup, the Kings are just 3-13 on the season, and many wonder what might be next for this group. Where do the Kings go from here? Unfortunately, the clock might be ticking for a couple of their veterans, primarily Westbrook and DeRozan, who are 37 and 36 years old, respectively.
Kendrick Perkins recently shared his take on the Road Trippin’ Show, as he believes veterans like Westbrook and DeRozan are being phased out of the league.
“We’re about to start to see a trend of the old heads completely vanish and be out the league,” Perkins answered when asked what’s next for DeMar DeRozan. “…Like it took forever for Russell Westbrook to get on a basketball team. We were wondering if someone was going to sign him. You had one option, which was the Sacramento Kings.”
Are teams better off with these aging veterans?
Perkins then brought up the Chicago Bulls, who are 8-7 through 15 games in their first full season after getting rid of Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan.
“The Bulls are winning right now. The Bulls got rid of two players from their roster: DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine. Both of those players are in Sacramento. The Bulls are having success, Sacramento is not,” Perkins continued.
“This has no reflection on what DeMar DeRozan has done in the past. He’s an all-time bucket getter. I’m not talking about who he was, I’m talking about where the league is trending right now… We saw it happen with Russ, you went from signing for 60 million to signing for three million, and all of a sudden, you are on the vet minimum.”
Nov 20, 2025; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Sacramento Kings guard DeMar DeRozan (10) and guard Russell Westbrook (18) walk toward the bench during a timeout during the first quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. | Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Time to blow it up?
Of course, the Kings were much more optimistic that this group of veterans would bring them some success, but it has become clear that this roster is not built to succeed. And, even worse, there is no clear future either due to the commitment to aging veterans.
“As much as I respect those guys, I don’t blame the Kings,” Perkins said. “Here’s the thing. When you talk about blowing it up, where does a guy like Sabonis end up? Right? That’s the more attractive piece.”
The Kings have plenty of big decisions to make coming up, and with guys like DeRozan, LaVine, Westbrook, and Sabonis headlining their roster, it is very hard to tell what will be next for those veterans, as Sacramento’s best course of action could be to blow it up and start over.
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