Checking in with the Sacramento Kings
We're about a month in the NBA season. Even though it’s early, let’s take a look at what’s happening so far with the Sacramento Kings’ 2020-21 season. I’ll be going over every team in the next few weeks. You can read the rest of the teams in our series at the bottom of the article.
The Sacramento Kings have started 5-10 this season after going 31-41 last season and 3-5 in the bubble. They had a little bit of a quiet offseason. The Kings signed four players in free agents and drafted three players including Tyrese Haliburton out of Iowa State with the 12th overall pick. Hassan Whiteside and Glenn Robinson are the only new additions that have made any sort of significant impact.
The Kings have been decent offensively this year, ranking 14th in offensive rating; but they have really struggled defensively, ranking last in that category as well as last in total NET rating. There has also been some drama as well. After a loss, Marvin Bagley’s Dad tweeted at the Kings’ Twitter account and asked the Kings to trade his son.
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De’Aaron Fox, has had a good year at the point guard spot, scoring 20.8 points per game and averaging 5.9 assists but is down in assists and points from last year. He’s doing a better job shooting beyond the arc this year shooting 35.5%, up from 29.2% last year. Fox is one of the quickest players in the league and is great in the pick and roll.
Harrison Barnes (F) is having a solid year as well, averaging 15.6 points per game and shooting a career-high 48.5% from the field.
Buddy Hield a (G) is one of the best three-point shooters in the league, knocking down 37% beyond the arc but is taking 10 attempts a game. He can shoot off the dribble, off catch and shoot, and off of movement.
Richaun Holmes is a super athletic center and might be having the best year of his career. He has the highest free throw percentage on the team, shooting 84.4% and the highest field goal percentage of his career at 68.1% and is also averaging a career-high at 13.6 points a game.
Bagley (F) has come back from an injury and has not played great so far this season.
Haliburton, a guard, fell to the 12th pick where many evaluations, including myself, had him as a top 5 pick coming into the draft. He’s been one of the best rookies in the league so far and looks to be one of the best steals of this draft. Among rookies, he’s 4th in points per game with 11.1 and 2nd in assist with 5.1. He’s also shooting a ridiculous 49.2% from three and has over a 3-1 assist to turnover ratio.
Honestly, the Kings are a fun team to watch.
They are about in the middle of the pack on offense and have some really good players, such as Fox, Haliburton, and Hield. But Sacramento doesn’t play great defense. Because of the lack of defense, the Kings are gonna struggle to win consistently, but if they can play better on the defensive end they have a chance to finish closer to the 8th seed rather than the bottom of the Western Conference.
Golden State Warriors -1/17
