One more year, one more losing season for Sacramento whose last winning season was in 05-06! The team spent the whole year in the news, but unfortunately for them, not always for good motives.
After being involved in several trade rumors, Marvin Bagley and Buddy Hield started last season with the team but the Kings’ chemistry was weird. The players quit on Luke Walton early in the year and eventually, the Kings traded for Domantas Sabonis by giving up their young prospect Tyrese Haliburton.
Sabonis only played 15 games in Sacramento so, with such a small sample, it’s hard to evaluate his impact as their two franchise players, De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis, only played together in 759 possessions. The good news is that they had an 116.2 off rate, which would make them the #3 best offense in the league. The bad news is that they had a 118.9 def rate, which would make them the worst defense in the league.
2022/23 Outlook:
Mike Brown is the team’s new head coach and he has the reputation of being defense first. This is what the team needed as the Kings were the #4 worst defense last season, which was actually an improvement as they had been the worst defense in the league the previous season. Last season, they were last in allowing 3pts% and #25 in FG% allowed at the rim: a combo that makes it impossible for any defense to be decent.
Sacramento’s most notable signings during the offseason were Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk, two players who won’t give the team any upgrades on defense, but whose shooting ability is very welcomed for a team that was the #5 worst team in the league at shooting threes last season.
Sacramento’s biggest hope this year will be rookie Keegan Murray, drafted #4 overall. He was the Summer League MVP by averaging 23.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 50% FG and 40% 3pts. A great start for him in Sacramento indeed.
The Kings have the tools to be a potent team on offense. However, their biggest problem will be once again their defense and this is something Mike Brown will have to work on. Given his roster, if he manages to make his team be at least average on defense, he’ll certainly be a coach of the year contender this season.