The Sacramento Kings Are Still A Mess
From the Kings’ poor roster construction to Boston’s elite defense, I broke down everything I saw from last night’s slate of games.
The Kings Are Still Bad (shocking)
With the Kings firing Luke Walton, I was excited to see how they would perform in their first game without him. Against an incredibly short-handed 76ers team where they had the upper hand, it seemed like a great way to start the Alvin Gentry regime.
Instead, the Kings sucked. What a surprise. While I think that the Luke Walton firing was the right move, it doesn’t change the fact that the Kings need to do a lot more. And when I mean do more, I mean do a lot more to transform this dysfunctional organization.
The Kings Roster Doesn’t Make Sense
While the Kings have built a talented roster over the past couple of seasons, it hasn’t translated to success. From poor drafting decisions to not prioritizing some positions, the Kings are experiencing a lot of log jams at certain positions.
I think that that problem can be best summed up by the De’Aaron Fox debacle that is currently happening.
De’Aaron Fox played the best season of his career in 2021. His playmaking, aggressiveness, and improved shooting allowed him to play at an All-Star level. While the Kings were unspectacular, Fox had a season for the ages. That was the first sign of Fox becoming a true star in the NBA.
Coming into this season, I held high expectations for Fox. Instead, Fox has played some of the worst basketball of his career. This table illustrates why.
| Year | Touches Per Game | Time Per Touch (seconds) | Dribbles Per Touch |
| 2021-22 | 81.8 | 4.73 | 4.18 |
| 2020-21 | 86.5 | 5.16 | 4.7 |
It’s pretty simple as to why Fox isn’t as great as he was last season. While there are other factors, such as shot selection, Fox isn’t getting the ball as much. Why is that?
The answer to that question lies in incredibly moronic drafting, a specialty of the Kings. Already with Fox in place, it was time to find complimentary pieces around him. In 2020, the Kings struck gold with one of their candidates. Tyrese Haliburton ended up being the steal of the draft and is the ideal partner to Fox.
That duo was great and nothing needed to be changed on that front. It was only logical to try and fix other aspects of the team, right?
Instead, the Kings took another point guard in Davion Mitchell. While Mitchell has greatly helped the Kings on defense, it’s another young guard who demands minutes. Throw in Buddy Hield and Terence Davis and you have yourselves a problem. This situation proves there is such a thing as too much talent.
And the guard log lam isn’t the only problem on the roster. They don’t have a wing option for the future. While Harrison Barnes is good, what good is he if the Kings aren’t making a playoff push?
Marvin Bagley has never panned out and his selection in the 2018 NBA Draft looks worse by the way. The ironic part of the Kings choosing Bagley over Doncic? They likely didn’t want another ball-handler next to De’Aaron Fox, so they went with a power forward. Fast forward to the past few drafts and they have thrown that thinking out the door.
In short, the Kings are f*****. Firing Luke Walton might make the product on the court better, but Alvin Gentry still has a messy roster to deal with. What are the solutions to this disaster?
The Solution
I think that the Kings should semi-blow things up. They have some nice pieces for the future, but trimming around the edges would benefit them in a lot of ways.
The first person I’m going to trade away is Harrison Barnes. While Barnes is a perfectly fine player, there is no reason for him to be on this team. And given how high his trade value is right now, there are a lot of teams in need of his services.
Kings Receive: Taurean Prince – Jake Layman – Josh Okogie
Timberwolves Receive: Harrison Barnes
The Timberwolves get another scorer and the Kings get some more role players. This move alone would not solve the problem, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Next, we are trying to get Ben Simmons. While his problems have been well documented, I think that his defense would help the 76ers a lot. And in this scenario, with Harrison Barnes out of the picture? The pairing could work out better than expected.
Kings Receive: Ben Simmons – 2022 FRP – 2024 FRP (Top 8 Protected)
76ers Receive: Buddy Hield – Davion Mitchell
While it pains me to see Davion Mitchell go, it’s for the best. The backcourt has fewer mouths to feed now and Simmons can transition to a forward role. The Kings are also getting a couple of picks in this trade, so they can also rebuild for the future.
And I’m sure the 76ers would jump at the opportunity to get this trade package in return for Simmons.
The final guy I want to go is Marvin Bagley. Every time I watch him play, I imagine Luka Doncic in a Kings uniform. Since that makes me feel immense pain, let’s get him outta here (use New York voice).
Kings Receive: Derrick Jones Jr – 2022 FRP (via Portland)
Bulls Receive: Marvin Bagley III – 2025 2nd RP
With the Bulls’ weak front-court depth, they make a risky move in acquiring Bagley. The Kings get Jones Jr, an expiring contract, but someone who offers them a lot of defense.
With these 3 moves, here is how the roster would look like;
De’Aaron Fox
Tyrese Haliburton
Taurean Prince
Ben Simmons
Richuan Holmes
Josh Okogie
Terence Davis
Derrick Jones Jr
Chimezie Metu
Jake Layman
Tristan Thompson
This lineup looks a lot better. While it might be less talented, there are a lot more guys who fit around Fox, Haliburton, and Holmes. Those 3 guys are your core for the future and you’re making a much better effort to build around them.
The sad reality for all Kings’ fans, all two of you, is that this won’t happen. The Kings will just ride it out with this dysfunctional team that they have now, thinking that everything is fine. Then, they will see that De’Aaron Fox is struggling and just trade him because of the Kings’ logic or lack thereof.
The Boston Celtics Are Sneaky Good
After a tumultuous start to the season, featuring a streaky offense and a 4th quarter collapse the Bulls, the Celtics have been playing great. Even with Jaylen Brown out, they have figured things out and are looking like a playoff team once again.
Their combination of star play plus elite defense has led them to an 8-3 record over the past 11 games. Let’s see how the Celtics have turned around their season.
Jayson Tatum + Dennis Schroder = Greatness?
Yeah, I know, I’m just as confused as you. While we expect a high level of play from Jayson Tatum, hardly anybody expected Dennis Schroder to be playing like an All-Star. But he has been. With Jaylen Brown injured, these two have been carrying the load for the Celtics.
The biggest reason why the offense hasn’t fallen apart over the past 3 weeks is because of these two, so send your thank you’s this way.
Jayson Tatum In The Last 11 Games
25.7 points – 8.5 rebounds – 55% TS
Tatum has been particularly good over the past 4 games, where he’s notched four straight 30-point performances. He’s getting to the rim more and the results are showing.
All we can hope for, as basketball fans, is that Tatum continues to do this over the entire season.
Dennis Schroder In The Last 11 Games
20.5 points – 50% FG – 58% TS
Schroder has been as good as ever at getting to the rim. The surprising thing has been how good he’s been shooting the ball. He’s been shooting more 3’s over this span (4.4 attempts per game) and making them at pretty acceptable rates (31%).
While that’s not great, Schroder is showing an ability to stretch the defense, something that Boston desperately needs.
Not bad for a $5.9 million dollar contract.
Elite Defense
The other driving force for Boston has been their elite defense. To start the season, they couldn’t guard a parked car. Now, they are performing like one of the best defensive teams in the NBA. They have been shutting teams down, making things easier for their offense in the process.
Boston’s Elite Defense Over The Past 11 Games
100.1 DRtg (1st)
7.8 Net Rating (3rd)
41.7 Opp FG% (3rd)
31.4 Opp 3-PT% (5th)
8.5 Opp OREB (2nd)
10.2 Opp 2nd Chance PTS (2nd)
16.3 PF Per Game (4th)
37.8 Opp PITP (1st)
The Celtics aren’t giving their opponents 2nd chance points. Nor are they giving them any easy points at the free-throw line. They aren’t forcing an absurd amount of turnovers, but they are just playing great defense. You can’t score down low against a front featuring Horford, Grant Williams, and Robert Williams.
The Celtics defense has returned to form after a brief hiatus last season. Having Marcus Smart healthy helps them a lot and their frontcourt is one the stoutest groups in the NBA. It’s a step in the right direction, as the defense could potentially be the backbone for the C’s all season long.
Cam Thomas Is The Nets’ Saving Grace
To nobody’s surprise, a bench featuring Jevon Carter and DeAndre’ Bembry is struggling to score the basketball. The bench has been lackluster for the Nets this season, but fortunately, they have an answer right in front of them.
Cam Thomas, the Nets’ first-round pick from this past year’s draft, is a scorer. While he can’t do much else, he can help solve the Nets’ mediocre bench production. In his first meaningful minutes of the season, Thomas helped the Nets do just that.
In just 15 minutes off the bench, Thomas had 11 points on 4/7 shooting. He had 8 points in the 3rd quarter to get the Nets back into the game. He is a great shooter, he can draw fouls, and he’s very crafty for his age.
I’m hoping that Nash gives Thomas some more meaningful minutes off the bench. He can give the Nets a scoring punch they desperately need and I think that he would make the Nets a lot better.
What Are Your Thoughts From Last Nights Games? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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