Kings' Updated Roster, NBA Salary Cap After Russell Westbrook Contract in Free Agency

The long-rumored partnership between Russell Westbrook and the Sacramento Kings finally became a reality on Wednesday.

Westbrook's agent, Jeff Schwartz, told ESPN's Shams Charania that the nine-time All-Star has agreed to a deal with the Kings just six days before the 2025-26 NBA regular season begins.

Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints added Westbrook will make the veteran minimum of $3.9 million on a one-year contract.

The Kings' cap allocations prior to this deal were just over $186 million, so this will push them up to the $190 million mark. They will be right around $6 million under the first tax apron when Westbrook's contract becomes official.

After spending the offseason trying to boost their backcourt depth, the Kings' roster now looks to be set with Westbrook on board.

Projected Sacramento Kings Depth Chart

PG: Dennis Schröder, Russell Westbrook

SG: Zach LaVine, Malik Monk, Keon Ellis

SF: DeMar DeRozan, Nique Clifford, Doug McDermott

PF: Keegan Murray, Dario Šarić, Maxime Raynaud

C: Domantas Sabonis, Drew Eubanks, Isaac Jones

Full depth chart via RealGM.com.

The Kings have had an interesting offseason, though it's not clear if they made themselves that much better. Their early moves included a sign-and-trade with the Detroit Pistons to acquire Dennis Schröder and trading Jonas Valančiūnas to the Denver Nuggets for Dario Šarić.

Sacramento was also heavily connected to Jonathan Kuminga in restricted free agency before he returned to the Golden State Warriors, including at one point offering Malik Monk and a lottery-protected first-round pick in 2030 to the Warriors.

Kuminga's situation was also reportedly delaying a potential pairing between Westbrook and the Kings because they wanted to wait and make sure the 23-year-old wasn't going to be available to them.

Once Kuminga accepted a two-year, $48.5 million deal from the Warriors on Sept. 30, it seemed to put Westbrook back in play for Sacramento.

It's still not clear exactly what the Kings are trying to do right now. They traded away De'Aaron Fox prior to the trade deadline last season in part because he didn't want to continue going through all of the coaching turnover after Mike Brown was fired in December.

Head coach Doug Christie went a respectable 27-24 in 51 games to earn the full-time job. He still has a lot of offensive talent to work with, including Westbrook, but the defense is will likely remain a problem as the Kings try to compete in a loaded Western Conference.

Westbrook will likely be used off the bench as a sixth man who can run the point. He did have success in that role with the Denver Nuggets last season, averaging 13.3 points, 6.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game in 75 appearances, and his energy on the court is something that teammates can feed off.

It's still unlikely the Kings will move into being a true playoff contender with Westbrook on the roster, but there's nothing wrong with adding quality depth to the bench at this late stage of the preseason.