NBA Daily: Encouraging Signs for the Sacramento Kings

Throughout the last decade, perhaps even longer, there has been no team in the NBA that has exemplified futility more so than the Sacramento Kings.

They’ve seemingly been in the lottery forever and really had nothing to show for it. Their last playoff appearance was in 2006. They’ve had nine different head coaches during that span.

A few seasons ago, they looked like they might be turning the corner, but DeMarcus Cousins got injured and the team abruptly and surprisingly fired Mike Malone. Cousins was traded in 2017 and the Kings were moving into yet another rebuild.

Then the 2017 NBA draft happened. The Kings selected a quartet of players in De’Aaron Fox, Justin Jackson, Harry Giles and Frank Mason III – a series of picks that were widely praised. Those players were added to a group that included a few other young pieces in Willie Cauley-Stein, Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovic.

Last season was a bit more of the same, but this season has been a breath of fresh air. Don’t look now, but the Sacramento Kings are currently 5-3 and playing an exciting brand of basketball.

Fox is looking like he’s got the potential to become a true superstar. His numbers are up across the boards from his rookie season and if he keeps this up, he could be in the running for the Most Improved Player Award.

He’s putting up 17.5 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting from the field. He’s getting to the free-throw line about seven times per game and he’s dishing out 6.9 assists. His shooting, however, has been a question mark since coming into the league and he’s only shooting 21.1 percent from the three-point line and 63 percent from the charity stripe.

He has shown a willingness though to take perimeter jumpers and with work, that aspect of his game should improve. He’s already great in transition and attacking the rim. Once that jump shot comes around, he might be ready to have his name mentioned among the elite point guards in the league.

Another big reason for the Kings success this season was a free agent signing that fell into their laps unexpectedly. Nemanja Bjelica had an agreement in place with the Philadelphia 76ers only to back out of it in the expectation that he was heading back to Europe.

Instead, he turned around and signed with the Kings and he’s been one of the best players on the roster. Bjelica is another player that if he continues at this pace, could also see himself being talked about for Most Improved Player. He was in and out of the rotation during his tenure with Minnesota, dealing with injuries as well, but he’s broken out in Sacramento.

During his first three seasons in the league, he never averaged double-figures in scoring, but this season he’s up to 15.1 points per game. He’s always been a good outside shooter, but now he’s shooting 58.2 percent from the field and 54.5 percent from three-point range. He’s also shown a willingness to put the ball on the floor and attack, or create opportunities for his teammates, something he didn’t do as often in Minnesota.

And then there’s the guy that some thought might take over the mantle as the franchise player once Cousins was traded. The guy that owner Vivek Ranadive once said has Steph Curry potential, Buddy Hield.

Hield started out strong when coming over in the trade with the Pelicans, but last season he fell off a bit and spent most of the year coming off the bench. He’s started all eight games so far this season, and his numbers are also very strong.

His 18.9 points per game scoring average leads the team, and he’s doing it on 52.2 percent shooting from the field and 44.7 percent from downtown. In a win last night over the Orlando Magic, the Kings fourth straight, Hield had a team-high 25 points as well as 11 rebounds.

During this early stretch of the season, the Kings have also been getting good production from their reserves. Veterans guys like Yogi Ferrell and Iman Shumpert have been key contributors. This past summer’s prized draft pick Marvin Bagley III is looking like he could be a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year. Frank Mason has picked up where he left off last season when he was one of the best second-round steals.

They’ve also been scrappy and tough defensively with Cauley-Stein establishing himself as an interior rim protector. They do have one question mark, and that is Harry Giles. There was a time when Giles was the best player in the country back in high school. Unfortunate injuries derailed his college experience and draft stock and forced him to miss the entirety of his rookie year.

He’s back now and looking to regain the status he once had among basketball circles. He hasn’t been too impressive in the early goings, but it’s going to take him some time to get back up to regular game speed.

Every NBA season, there are always some surprises once everything gets underway. Some teams start off hot and trickle off once the grind of an 82 game season begins to take hold. Others start off slowly and work their way up. It is still way too early to make anything significant of what the Kings are currently doing.

But the signs are encouraging. Fear not, Sacramento, it appears as if there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.