The Sacramento Kings will host six 2026 draft prospects for a workout Tuesday morning: Tamin Lipsey, Ja’Kobi Gillespie, J’Vonne Hadley, Jevon Porter, Giovanni Emejuru and Ernest Udeh.
The visit is the latest stop in a busy pre-draft schedule for Sacramento, which controls three selections in next year’s draft — the seventh, 34th and 45th picks — giving the club flexibility across the first and second rounds as it evaluates talent in person.
Each player on the list arrives with a clear collegiate identity: Lipsey from Iowa State, Gillespie from Tennessee, Hadley from Louisville, Porter from Missouri, Emejuru from East Carolina and Udeh from Miami. Bringing six prospects into the same workout window lets the Kings compare bodies, skill sets and measurements on a compressed timeline rather than relying solely on tape or remote evaluations.
Sacramento’s continued string of in-person workouts is part of routine draft preparation for teams with multiple picks. The group bound for Tuesday morning reflects that breadth: with a top-10 selection and two additional second-round positions, the Kings can contemplate both immediate contributors and longer-term projects at once.
One wrinkle in how observers are parsing the meeting: Ja’Kobi Gillespie is viewed by some outlets as the top prospect among the six, even though he sits at No. 44 on ’s big board. The split between external buzz and his listed ranking highlights the gaps teams often try to close with workouts — measurement checks, medical conversations and a chance to see how a player responds to staff instruction.
Practically, Tuesday’s session gives Sacramento scouts and decision-makers a concentrated data set to file against each pick. The seventh pick is likely to carry different immediate-expectation metrics than the 34th or 45th, but all three selections can be influenced by a strong showing in a team workout: positional fit, defensive testing, shooting range and intangibles such as competitiveness and coachability.
What the Kings will do with that information remains the central question. The club’s three picks let it pursue a mix of higher-ceiling candidates and developmental options, but the workout does not resolve which of the six visitors — if any — will be prioritized for selection at No. 7, 34 or 45.
Sacramento will host the six prospects Tuesday morning and then fold the results into its wider pre-draft evaluations. The clearest unresolved point after the workouts is which player will emerge as a genuine target for each of the Kings’ three picks; that determination will shape trade chatter, future visits and the next set of meetings on the calendar.
