The Sacramento Kings announced their 2026-27 preseason schedule Monday: five games beginning October 5 against the Los Angeles Lakers at Golden 1 Center. Sacramento visits the Lakers for a rematch October 8, plays at the Golden State Warriors October 10, hosts the Portland Trail Blazers October 13 and closes October 16 at the San Antonio Spurs.
The broadcast plans are the newer wrinkle. Four of the five games will stream free on Kings+, the team’s streaming platform, with the October 10 Warriors game airing on NBC Sports California. The team also confirmed its booth for the season: Mark Jones returns as full-time play-by-play announcer alongside analyst Kayte Christensen, with Deuce Mason and Morgan Ragan hosting pregame and postgame coverage.
For a roster that just spent July retooling around its rookie class, the October slate is the next real checkpoint. Preseason will be the first NBA-level look at Darius Acuff and Alex Karaban, Sacramento’s two first-round picks, after a 2-3 Las Vegas Summer League that ran hot and cold — Acuff’s 19-point, seven-assist night against the Clippers and Karaban’s 21-point closing effort against Boston on one end, a record-low four-point quarter on the other. Fellow rookie Emanuel Sharp, who closed Vegas with 16 points and four threes in the finale win over Charlotte, gets the same stage. An all-Western slate with two home dates means Sacramento fans get their first in-person look at the rookie class before opening night.
On the fantasy side, these five games are the dates to circle for anyone holding Kings rookies in dynasty formats. Acuff’s preseason minutes and who runs the second unit will say more about his redraft relevance than any Summer League box score, and Karaban’s role against NBA frontcourts is the swing factor on whether he is a late-round flier or a waiver watch.
