Kings Hit the Panic Button, Roll Out Wild New Starting Five Against Lakers

The Sacramento Kings are officially hitting the panic button on their starting five, and honestly, you cannot blame them. When your defense spends the first few weeks of the season looking like a layup line for the rest of the league, something has to give.

According to Underdog NBA, Sacramento is rolling out a brand new starting unit on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers. The fresh five features rookie Darius Acuff Jr., Zach LaVine, De'Andre Hunter, Precious Achiuwa, and Domantas Sabonis. This is the basketball equivalent of shaking a vending machine when your chips get stuck, just hoping something falls into place.

"Lineup alert: Kings will start Acuff Jr., LaVine, Hunter, Achiuwa, Sabonis on Wednesday."

The math in Sacramento right now is undeniably grim. The Kings are sitting at a miserable 1-6, boasting a -13.8 net rating that ranks 29th in the NBA. They are giving up 121.3 points per 100 possessions, which is good for 28th in the league and bad for anyone who enjoys watching competitive basketball.

Throwing Achiuwa into the frontcourt next to Sabonis is a clear cry for defensive help. Meanwhile, handing the keys to a rookie point guard in Acuff Jr. just a handful of games into his professional career shows exactly how desperate this coaching staff is for a spark.

For anyone looking at the board this week, this lineup shift completely scrambles the usual Sacramento script. Sabonis is already pulling down an absurd 14.6 rebounds per game, and LaVine is pouring in 23.4 points a night over his last seven outings. However, the spacing and usage rates are about to look entirely different with Acuff Jr. running the show, meaning bettors will need to recalibrate how these new pieces share the floor before touching any player props.

The timing of this experiment is objectively hilarious. The Kings are not testing this new group against a lottery team trying to find its own footing. They are taking this untested five-man unit into a matchup against the 6-2 Lakers, who currently look like an absolute buzzsaw. If this new lineup gets run off the floor on Wednesday night, Sacramento's upcoming Friday date with the San Antonio Spurs is going to feel like a funeral march.