Basketball is not a sport, it's a way of life.
#14 in the LBB end of the season team rankings...
The Kings are stuck in that strange competitive purgatory, where they are good enough to be a threat in the West during the regular season, but still short of feeling like a legitimate contender. That sounds like more of a knock on them than is intended, especially when you consider the black abyss of despair that this organization finally climbed itself out of. Last season felt a bit disappointing, but that’s because a step forward was expected that never came to fruition as Sacramento was unable to fight out of the crowded Western Conference. This coming season the Kings may find themselves lighting the beam a few more times than last year and will likely compete for a top-six seed, but when it’s all said and done, I think it’s just pretty much more of the same as it’s been for this organization over the last couple of years.
#14 Sacramento Kings
Record: 46-36 (Tied 16TH); 9th in the West; 99.47 Pace (14th); 116.2 Offensive Rating (13th); 114.4 Defensive Rating (14th); 1.8 Net Rating (16th)
Total Salary Cap Allocations: $175,540,252 (21st)
Cap Space: $-34,952,252 (10th)
Current Roster: Devin Carter, DeMar DeRozan, Keon Ellis, De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Colby Jones, Alex Len, Trey Lyles, Jalen McDaniels, Jordan McLaughlin, Malik Monk, Keegan Murray, Domantas Sabonis
Single Word Description: Unthreatening
Biggest Positive: Offensive Firepower. Last season, the Kings joined the Lakers (James – 25.7, Davis – 24.7, Russell – 18, Reaves – 15.9) as the only teams in the league to feature four players averaging 15 or more points per game while playing 65 games or more (Fox – 26.6, Sabonis – 19.4, Monk – 15.4, Murray – 15.2). This is a feat the Kings have actually now accomplished in back-to-back seasons, doing the same in '23 (Fox – 25.0, Sabonis – 19.1, Huerter – 15.2, Barnes – 15.0). To give you a sense of how impressive this is, in the history of the NBA, only 87 teams, including the three mentioned here, have achieved that. Now, with the addition of DeMar DeRozan—who has averaged less than 15 points per game only once in his career, in his rookie season in '10 when he scored 8.6 per contest—it’s not unreasonable to think the Kings could become just the fifth franchise and ninth different team (the Cousy-led Celtics did it in four consecutive seasons between '59–'62) to have five players accomplish the same feat. This type of egalitarian scoring is rare because few teams are equipped to roll out multiple scorers who are capable of getting their own buckets while still being sufficiently deferential enough for their teammates to get involved at such a scoring clip. But the Kings now have four of the league’s top 35 playmakers in terms of assists per game last season: Sabonis (8.2), Fox (5.6), Monk (5.1), and now DeRozan (5.3). This gives Sacramento four legitimate playmakers who understand how to toggle between attacking and distributing. Add in Kevin Huerter (for now), who, despite struggling last season, is a proven long-distance threat and quality playmaker in his own right, and the Kings have an offensive group that could be as potent and unselfish as any in the league.
The one concern will be how marginalized a player like Monk, who was often featured in closing lineups last season, potentially becomes, as it’s difficult to imagine Sacramento playing him, Fox—who was the league’s Jerry West Award winner for most clutch player in the '23 season—and DeRozan—who finished third in voting for that award in '23 and runner-up to Steph Curry last year—all together to close games considering the challenges it presents defensively. Monk had easily his best season last year, and while he has proven to be deadly with his off-ball movement as a cutter or stretching the defense as a shooter, his ability to get into the teeth of the defense off the dribble was one of the Kings' best assets in the halfcourt. Ultimately, having too many talented players is a good problem to have strategically; it’ll just be worth monitoring how it plays out egotistically.
Biggest Negative: Defense. The Kings were not an outright bad defensive team last year, but as we move up the list in team rankings, particularly with a team like Sacramento, who for the most part has done a good job of building a roster that is solid at all three key levels of experience (young talent, established stars, and veterans), the biggest negative at times can feel a bit nitpicky. In the case of the Kings, a group that has aspirations to be more than just a fun story, their defense, particularly as it currently projects in terms of the playoffs, is a major concern for me.
Sacramento lacks stout perimeter defenders, especially after trading Davion Mitchell, who was far and away their best point-of-attack defender. While the drafting of Devin Carter with the 13th pick this summer and the acquisition of Jalen McDaniels in the deal that sent Mitchell to Toronto should help there, they are not enough to inspire a ton of confidence in terms of reliable perimeter defense. De’Aaron Fox is just fine defensively, and though “Swipa” tied with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for the league lead in steals last season (2.0), in large part because he has a tendency to overplay for the swipes, it’s hard to expect a player who carries his workload offensively to be anything more than adequate on that end. DeRozan fights but has always been a subpar defender. Murray is a better defender than he’s given credit for, but that’s if he’s playing at small forward, where he utilizes his length well to compensate for just okay foot speed. With DeRozan now at the three, Murray is going to have to play at power forward more, where his lack of strength could be exploited. Were Sacramento a unit that protected the rim well, they could get away with being just okayish on wing defense, but with Domantas Sabonis and Alex Len "protecting" the rim, they have some of the worst shot-blocking bigs in the league—Sabonis' 0.6 blocks per game ranked 66th out of 7 players to a start at center last season. Meanwhile, Len is an adequate rim protector when he plays, as his 0.7 blocks in just 9.3 minutes per game outpaces Sabonis, but his lack of mobility and tendency to accrue fouls quickly, along with the fact that Sabonis never misses a game, plays heavy minutes, and the two can’t be played together, add to why Sacramento is one of the worst rim-protecting teams in the league—the Kings were 28th in blocks per game last season.
Again, it’s not that the team as a defensive unit is bad, but a soft underbelly without a stout enough exterior to prevent it from being attacked is an Achilles' heel that teams will exploit when the games slow down and get more half-court oriented in the postseason.
What’s Next: I fully expect the Kings to continue shopping Kevin Huerter. Robert Williams III, Wendell Carter Jr., Clint Capela, and Brook Lopez (were the wheels to completely fall off in Milwaukee) should all be on the Kings' shortlist come the trade deadline—or sooner. That being said, with rookie Devin Carter, who was drafted to aid the perimeter defense, likely out until the turn of the new year following left shoulder surgery, it would not be surprising if the Kings looked for some help on the perimeter defensively as well. While Keon Ellis was a pleasant surprise for Sacramento last season, and Jalen McDaniels can help some, Sacramento remains light on perimeter defenders. Typically, the lack of elite perimeter defenders can be more than compensated for with rim deterrence, but since both are areas of need, it’s hard to imagine this Sacramento franchise not trying to find a way to bolster one or the other to compensate for being below average at both as currently situated.
What They Shouldn’t Do: Expect too much. I’m not here to be Debbie Downer, but Sacramento’s offseason just felt unimpactful to their overall direction. DeRozan is definitely a better player than Barnes, but I’m not sure that he adds a dimension that makes Sacramento as a team particularly more potent overall. The Mitchell trade was essentially the franchise acknowledging that they made a mistake in taking him 9th overall in '22 and getting out instead of re-signing him. And while I like the Carter pick for their needs, even if he were not hurt to start the year, the rookie’s impact with a group that has this many established wings was likely to be minimal—though I’m sure they are hoping he slides into Huerter’s minutes once he is inevitably dealt. I do expect the Kings to work themselves back into the West’s top eight. And I think in terms of overall concept and outlook, the Kings brass has done a good job of making the right moves, but there just isn’t a construct of this current group that feels more than a fun bunch that gets bounced out in the Play-In or first round again.
Is There Hope?: Sort of. It’s difficult to find much fault in the way the Kings have functioned over the last few years. After a nearly two-decade-long run of struggling, in which they suffered sixteen consecutive losing seasons from '07–'22, the Kings have averaged 47 wins over the last two years, making the playoffs in '23 before losing in a tough seven-game series with the Warriors, and then making the Play-In last season before succumbing to the Pelicans. But unless Keegan Murray makes a large jump forward—which is wholly possible, though in truth, I think Murray tops out at a Kyle Kuzma level of scorer—Sacramento doesn’t feel like they’re significantly more than they have been the last few years.
Links to Other Team Reviews:
Thank you to:
Sports Contracts, Salaries, Caps, Bonuses, & Transactions | Spotrac.com
RealGM - NBA Basketball News, Rumors, Scores, Stats, Analysis, Depth Charts, Forums
Blazer's Edge, a Portland Trail Blazers community (blazersedge.com)
Basketball Statistics & History of Every Team & NBA and WNBA Players | Basketball-Reference.com
NBA.com
NBA Logos - National Basketball Association Logos - Chris Creamer's Sports Logos Page - SportsLogos.Net