The Sacramento Kings have too many mouths to feed in their deep backcourt rotation.
The guard rotation for the Sacramento Kings has been an issue all offseason and has remained a point of contention with the season now underway. The Kings have struggled to balance out their roster with bigger wings capable of defending multiple positions while having one of the deepest two-guard rooms in the league.
Guard depth can be useful, but there are only so many minutes to go around, and the Kings are small even with Keegan Murray healthy. Finding an effective rotation with this many guards and just one true wing will be one of the biggest challenges of Doug Christie's first year at the helm.So far, having DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, and Dennis Schröder on the court together hasn’t looked great, but playing two of them with a better defender and a capable off-ball guard has had good returns. Clifford missed the game against the Jazz, but played 21 minutes with LaVine and DeRozan against the Suns, and the group had a +15.5 rating. DeRozan and LaVine also have positive ratings when sharing the court with either Russell Westbrook or Keon Ellis, albeit on very few minutes. Schröder has also been much better when sharing the court with either Clifford or Westbrook. Lineup stats aren’t a perfect measure, especially this early in the season, but when you take the rest of their careers into account, it’s clear that Sacramento’s best offensive players need a yin to their yang.Despite a solid rating in two games, a lineup of Monk, DeRozan, and LaVine will likely have some major defensive issues, which adds another challenge to getting Monk on the court. Schröder, LaVine, and Monk are a -31.3 in 17 minutes, and DeRozan, Monk, and Schröder are a -16.2 in nine minutes. Even when they’re competing on defense, the size of the Kings’ top four guards makes it easy for opposing guards and wings to take advantage of them. This, not some incantation, is why teams tend to shoot well against the Kings and why the rotation is a real issue.Christie had to find a way to defend Utah’s three seven-footers, which would lead one to believe that getting all of Sacramento’s guards minutes would be impossible. Despite this, Ellis, Westbrook, and Monk all played 15+ minutes while the starting guards had 33+ minutes. The starters are always going to be on the court, but the interesting part is how Christie got so much out of Ellis, Westbrook, and Monk.He was also tasked with defending Lauri Markkanen at times.First, we get to Malik Monk. Monk has been great to start the season, going 9-13 from three in the first two games with only one turnover, and was a huge factor last night with 20 points off the bench. His defense has been much better so far, but it’s still a challenge for him when he’s sharing the court with two of LaVine, DeRozan, or Schröder. This might be something Christie has noticed, as Monk has already played 27 minutes with Ellis and 26 with Westbrook this season. Friday night was evidence of how important it is to get Malik on the court, but he has to have the right guys around him to be the best version of himself.In the fourth quarter against the Jazz, Westbrook had to defend Lauri Markkanen, who was causing all kinds of problems for Sacramento with his size and shooting. Markkanen was still able to score on Russ, but it wasn’t easy, and having him out there was much better for the offense than any of the forwards who were available. Westbrook’s strength, solid size for a guard, and competitiveness make him an option to turn to against bigger teams like Utah while keeping an extra creator on the court. He probably shouldn’t be asked to guard seven-footers often, but Westbrook taking on a Josh Hart-type role where he defends forwards would be a big development for the Kings.October 25, 2025 Finally, we get to the best news of the week: Keon Ellis played over 17 minutes against the Jazz. Ellis didn’t get a ton of shots up, but he was as disruptive as ever defensively with three of Sacramento’s ten steals. Ellis’ lack of game timeto say the least, but he may have finally earned a few more minutes with his solid play in Phoenix and Utah. Good things happen when Ellis is on the court, and using him with two of the four main guards gives the Kings the balance they need to compete on both ends. Staggering the main, offensive-minded guards with better defenders like Westbrook, Ellis, and Clifford gives Sacramento the best chance at winning games without many options on the wing. Changing the rotation is more of a Band-Aid, but it might be just what the Kings need to stay alive while Murray is out. Unfortunately for Devin Carter, he’s been the odd man out even with Clifford missing the game against Utah. It was going to be impossible to find minutes for every guard on the roster, and Christie deserves credit for being creative with his limited lineup options.
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