Before the start of the 1971-1972 season, the Royals club was sold to a syndicated group of 10 Kansas businessmen for $5 million. The new team owners decided to keep the team in Cincinnati for another season. On May 26, 1972, the club defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in their final game as the Cincinnati Royals. After the season, the Royals moved west. As a result, the name was changed to Kansas City-Omaha Kings.

In the 1972-1973 season, the Kings' Nate Archibald became the first player in NBA history to dominate the league in both scoring and assists (34.0 points, 11.4 assists), as well as scoring more than 40 points in 18 games and 20 assists in three games. However, due to too little support from the rest of the team, the Kings finished last in the Mid-Western Conference with a 36-36 record this season.

In the 1974-1975 season, the Kings finally made the playoffs after eight years. With Archibald healthy, the other five teammates – Jimmy Walker, Nate Williams, Sam Raisi, Scott Widdman and Ron Berhagen – all contributed double-digit scores. Coach Johnson won 44 games for the Kansas City-Omaha Kings this season, winning the NBA Coach of the Year for that year. The Kings, who led the Western Conference in the regular season, lost to the Chicago Bulls in the Western Conference semifinals.

In the 1975-1976 season, the Kings did not replicate the success of the 1974-1975 season and changed their name to Kansas City, where the Kings lost 13 more games. At the end of the season, the Kings are in third place in the weak Midwest, just seven games away from the Milwaukee Bucks, the champions of the division. In the 1976-1977 season, the Kings tied with Indiana for last place in the Western Conference with a 31-51 record.

On May 10, 1978, the Kings signed Cotton Fitzsimmons as the team's new head coach. In the draft, the Kings selected University of North Carolina guard Phil Ford. As the dust settled on the 1978-79 regular season, Coach of the Year Fitzsimmons and Rookie of the Year Ford teamed up to give the Kings a triple jump, and the Kings were last in the Middle West to become the division leaders. The Kings defeated the Lakers in an overtime game on April 4, 1979, and the Central and Western Conference champions were confirmed. It was also the club's first divisional title since the Rochester Royals won the Western Conference in the 1951-1952 season. But then in five playoff games against the Phoenix Suns, the Kings unfortunately lost to the division semifinals.

In the 1979-1980 season, the Kings had a regular season record of 47 wins and 35 losses, two games behind Milwaukee and in second place. But lost again to Phoenix in the playoffs. In the 1980-1981 season, the Kings relied on the same lineup to finish second in the division for the second time. But this season's record is just 40-42, a full 12-game gap to the conference champions, the San Antonio Spurs. In the 1981-1982 season, the Kings dropped from second place in the division to fourth in the division, and their 30-52 record that season was also the team's worst record in 10 games.

In the 1982-1983 season, the emergence of Larry Drew, a 20-rated scorer, and the rapid advancement of shooter Eddie Johnson gave the Kings a competitive edge. The Kings have been battling the Denver Nuggets for the final playoff ticket all season. The two teams met in the final game of the regular season, with the Nuggets winning 125-116. With this crucial loss, the Kings failed to qualify for the playoffs.

In the 1983-1984 season, the Kings returned to the playoffs with a 38-44 record, but were eliminated by the Lakers in the first round. On May 10, 1984, Fitzsimmons resigned as head coach, and five days later Jack McKinney took over as coach of the Kings. In the 1984-1985 season, Jack McKinney was quickly sacked from the team after winning just 1 and losing 8 in his first nine games. Phil Johnson, who had coached the team in the 1977-1978 season, took his place. Due to rumors that the team would be relocating to Sacramento, the stadium was filled with fewer than 4,000 spectators throughout the season. In this situation, even with a number of good players (Johnson, Sius, Otis Thorpe and LaSalle Thompson), they missed the playoffs with a poor record of 31 wins and 51 losses.

On May 14, 1984, the team played its final game in Kansas, which was attended by 11,371 fans, but the Kings lost 116-122 to the Lakers in this monumental farewell game. On May 16, 1984, NBA management unanimously approved the King's move to Sacramento. In 1985, the Kings drafted Joe Klein in the first round of the draft and entered the playoffs with a 37-45 record, but were swept by the Houston Rockets in the first round.

The Kings began the 1986-1987 season with the same lineup. But the Kings carried their 8-20 record into 1987, when Phil Johnson was fired a month later and assistant coach Jerry Reynolds temporarily took over as head coach. However, Reynolds only managed to go 15-21, and the Kings ended up with a 29-53 record. Nine days after the end of the 1986-1987 regular season, Bill Russell was announced as the team's new head coach.

On March 7, 1988, the Kings, who had a 17-41 record, fired coach Bill Russell and put Jerry Reynolds back in the head coaching position. Phil Johnson also returned to the team as an assistant coach. But the Reynolds + Johnson combination failed to save the underpowered Kings. The 1987-1988 season ended with 24 wins and 58 losses. Despite the poor record, the fans' enthusiasm for the Kings has not waned in the slightest. The team's third season in Sacramento averaged 10,333 attendance per game at home, representing 100% attendance.

During the 1988-1989 season, the Kings moved into the newly built Arco Coliseum, which had a capacity of 16,517 spectators. Although the Kings arrived at a new court, the team did not end the suffering, and this season is only 27-55, a full 30 games away from the Pacific Division champions.

On May 21, 1989, the Kings received their first pick in the first round of the NBA. The University of Louisville then drafted center Pavis Allison. But the Kings were still at the bottom of the league in the 1989-1990 season, winning just 23 games that season. The Kings even had the longest losing streak on the road in NBA history, 37 on the road. In the end, the Kings finished the regular season with a 25-57 record. On January 10, 1990, the Kings also set a humiliating record when they were defeated 59-101 by the Charlotte Hornets, the lowest single-game scoring score in 36 years since the NBA adopted the 24-second system.

In the 1991-1992 season, the Kings changed a number of players and coaches, but still failed to break the 30-win mark in the season.

In the 1992-1993 season, the Kings were once again at the bottom of the Pacific Division. With a 25-57 regular season record, the Kings have their seventh straight season with fewer wins than 30 games. In the 1993-1994 season, the Kings ended the regular season with a 28-54 record due to injuries to their players.

In the 1994-1995 season, the Kings won 12 more games than they did in 1993-1994, an improvement that ranked fourth in the league that year. It was also the team's best record since the 1982-1983 season with a 45-37 record in Kansas City. The Kings conceded just 99.2 points per game, which ranks eighth in the league. Keeping opponents' shooting percentage at 45.3%, the league's second-lowest, and suppressing opponents' three-point shooting percentages at 30.4%, ranks first in the league.

In the 1995-1996 season, the Kings won 14 of the final 24 games of the season and entered the playoffs with a 39-43 record in the regular season. Richmond is honored to be the seventh player in history to score more than 21 points in the first eight seasons of his career. A year after the Kings made the playoffs for the first time since moving to Sacramento, the Kings were once again shut out of the playoffs in the 1996-1997 season. This year the team won four fewer games than last season. With a final record of 34-48, the Kings are only two games behind the Clippers, who are eighth in the West.

In the 1997-1998 season, young players such as Michael Stewart, Anthony Johnson, Tariq Abdul-Wahad and Laurence Fonderbock were among the team's starting line-ups and performed well. Point guard Johnson is averaging 7.5 points per game and a team-high 4.3 assists. Fondburke (9.5 points, 4.5 rebounds per game) and Abdul Wahad (6.4 points per game) bolstered bench depth at the Kings' forward position. Abdul Wahad even scored 31 points in the final game of the regular season. Although the Kings have a 27-55 record this season, these players have given head coach Eddie Jordan a youthful roster and energy.

The Kings brought in Chris Webb, Jason Williams and Vlad Divac in the 1998-1999 season, with their best record since the 1982-1983 season in Kansas City: 27-23. Webb averaged 20 points per game, 2.12 blocks and a league-leading 13.0 rebounds this season. When the Kings were improving, Sacramento's 13.4 percent increase in home attendance ranked first in the NBA that season.

The Kings finished their 52nd season with a 44-38 record (30-11 at home, 14-27 on the road) in the 1999-2000 season and the 15th year of the Sacramento era. Ranked 5th in the Atlantic zone and seeded 8th in the playoffs. But the Kings lost to the Lakers, the NBA champions that season, after five fierce battles.

The 2000-2001 season was the most successful year in Kings history and the team's best season in Sacramento. The Kings, who made the playoffs for the third year in a row, went 55-27 in the regular season, tying the Cincinnati Royals' team record of 55-25 in the 1963-1964 season. But the Kings met the defending champion Lakers in the second round of the playoffs and were eliminated with a 0-4 overall score.

The Kings set a franchise-record for the most road wins in a single season that season: 22, which rewrote the 1948-1949 Rochester Royals' record of 20 games. The Kings tied the San Antonio Spurs for the league's top 33 home wins and tied the 1948-1949 Rochester Royals record, with the Kings also setting a new NBA record with nine overtime wins. In the 2000-2001 season, the Kings had a number of players win NBA awards. In addition to being named to the NBA's First Team, Chris Webb was ranked fourth in the MVP of the Year selection. Peja Stojakovic came in second in the poll for the most improved players. Doug Christie finished No. 2 in the NBA All-Defensive Team with 183 steals in the league, and became the fourth player in franchise history to be named to the All-Defensive Team.

In the 2000-2001 season, the Sacramento Kings finished the regular season with a league-best 61-21, with 61 wins replacing the 55 wins in 2001 and 1964 to become a new franchise record, winning the Atlantic Division championship for the first time in the Sacramento era (the fifth division championship in franchise history). This season, the Kings set a total of three team records: the most wins in a single season (61), the most home wins in a single season (36), and the most away wins (25), and the 36-5 record at home ranks first in the league. In addition, it also set a new team record with a wave of 9 consecutive away wins. The last time the team finished the league top spot in the regular season was in the 1951-1952 season.

After a stellar 2001-2002 season, the Kings' results began to decline. In the 2004-2005 season, Vlad Divac returned to the Lakers and then retired, and the Kings began to struggle for power, with the infighting between Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic, who was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2004-2005 season, and the Indiana Pacers in the 2005-2006 season.

During the period from 2005 to 2009, the responsibilities of team leadership were passed on to the likes of Mike Bibby, Ron Artest, Kevin Martin, and finally passed into the hands of 2009 rookie Tyrek Evans, who proved himself to be a true candidate for reviving Sacramento with 20+5+5 in his rookie season. In the 2009-2010 season, the Kings' 25-57 record was abysmal. [6] During the season, due to Kevin Martin's early-season injury, Tyrek Evans quickly rose to become the centerpiece of the team's backcourt, and the Rookie of the Year award was probably the biggest gain for the Kings in 2010. In 2010, the Kings also selected potential forward DeMarcus Cousins, so the outside world felt that the revival of the Kings would be completed by Evans and Cousins.

On May 18, 2013, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson announced that the Malouf brothers, owners of the Kings, had signed an agreement to sell 65 percent of the team's shares, or about $535 million, to the Sa City consortium led by software tycoon Vivok Ranatief. This means that the five-month-long turmoil over the Kings' change of ownership and relocation is finally over.

On January 31, 2015, DeMarcus Cousins of the Kings will replace Kobe Bryant in the 2015 All-Star team. [9] The All-Star selection would be Cousins' first All-Star experience and the first All-Star for the Kings since Peja Stojakovic and Brad Miller in 2004.

On July 11, 2017, the Kings officially announced the official signing of three veterans, Vince Carter, George Hill and Zach Randolph.

In July 2019, the Sacramento Kings announced the official signing of the Most Valuable Player of the Finals for two consecutive years, China Jin, which is considered to be a sign that the Kings are seeking to rise again in the new era!