The last time the Kings had a player in the All-Star game, it was DeMarcus Cousins, and they basically traded him during the game.
Since then, no King has really come all that close to making an All-Star game. If you aren’t on a good team it’s hard to be an All-Star in the West, and well, the Kings haven’t been a good team. Cousins had to put up some of the best statistics in the league and also play one of the shallower positions in order to be considered.
Will that change this year? The Kings do have a couple candidates who could merit some contention in De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
While no Kings player has made the All-Star game since 2017, Sabonis managed to make it twice as a member of the Pacers, albeit in a weaker Eastern Conference. The Pacers were a solid, not great team, but Sabonis put up Jokic-lite numbers to get there, averaging 20.3 points, 12 rebounds and 6.7 assists a game in 2021. Those numbers are only slightly higher than what Sabonis managed to do as a member of the Kings in 15 games last season with almost no practice time. The hope is that with a full training camp and more chemistry, Sabonis can be even better.
The only other real candidate is De’Aaron Fox. There’s no question that Fox has All-Star talent despite never making a game before. In the 2020-21 season, he became the youngest Kings player ever to average over 25 points a game. Last season, after the Kings traded Tyrese Haliburton for Sabonis, Fox stepped up in a big way, averaging 28.9 points on 50.3% from the field along with 6.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds. That was just a 15 game sample size, but if the Kings get that level of production from him all season, it’d be hard to keep him off the All-Star team, even if the team wasn’t that good.
Could there be a surprise candidate? It’s hard to imagine someone other than Sabonis or Fox making an All-Star team out of the current roster, but if I had to choose a dark horse candidate… it’d be Keegan Murray. Yes, rookies almost rarely make the All-Star team unless they are just having absolutely incredible years, and no I don’t think Murray will actually make the team (this year at least). But if any player would be the one to surprise us and have an unexpected All-Star level season, Murray’d be my bet (although I wouldn’t lay down too much money on it).
More importantly than individual statistics however is team success. Good teams are often rewarded with more All-Star slots, and the Kings haven’t been a good team in a long time. They’ve had guys with great statistical production, but the one statistic that matters most is wins. If the Kings can find themselves squarely in the playoff conversation come December and January when the All-Star team is being decided, it seems inevitable that the voters will reward them with at least one All-Star berth.
All-Star games aren’t terribly important in the grand scheme of things, but it’s always fun to see the Kings and Sacramento represented on a national stage. If a Kings player manages to turn the voters heads around, that likely spells good things for the team itself.
Man, I can’t help but see Demarcus Cousins and just shake my head. Absolutely loved the possibilities with him and each and every year would convince myself that he’d get it together but as we all know, that was being much too optimistic. Could have been and arguably should be a Sacrament King legend. Instead he’s the unremovable stain in the middle of your favorite shirt that you swear isn’t that noticeable until you catch yourself in the mirror on an elevator and realize what a dingleberry you look like.
Still bothers me to see that jack ass in a Kings uniform.
Me too, killed my career 😫
Even did it after his career was essentially over and everyone knew what he was all about.
You over it yet?
My heart says yes. My gut says no.
How can Keegan Murray win MVP and not be an All Star?
Realistically? No.
Unrealistically? Probably not.
This is the kind of depressed snark I think all Kings fans can appreciate.
and yet, here we are.
This is the most questionable statement on the internet in my opinion. Nobody who as anything to do with the NBA doubts his All Star talent. They know it is doesn’t exist.
If you’re 5 years into your career and have never sniffed an All Star appearance, you’re not an All Star.
Unless Fox makes a Dejounte Murray type jump and leads this team to the playoffs, then no.
In addition to Kings players, I wonder if in my lifetime we will ever see Sacramento get to host All-Star weekend. I think the last time David Stern was asked that question he said if there were more hotels, and I’m not sure that has changed since then, but it would certainly be a very festive and spirited weekend if it ever happened.
Sacramento wasn’t picked in 2018 / 2019 and downtown has been significantly downgraded since then.
lest you forget:
And what of talk of Floating River Hotels and Self Driving Transportation?
Vivek had spoke strongly of it once upon a time – I think he’s holding out on us!
https://images.app.goo.gl/qT5zZDLT9pDJ5qHc8
Lol that was my first thought. I also recall having people stay in Napa and drive in to the city.
Sacramento is not hosting an All Star game anytime soon.
For grins, let’s do the Fox exercise. I mean, Donovan Mitchell and Dejounte Murray have moved East, so…
Not likely to catch: Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Luka Doncic, Ja Morant, Dame Lillard, Devin Booker.
Could catch but currently behind (depending on Fox’s growth, health factors, etc.): Jamal Murray, Anthony Edwards, CJ McCollum, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chris Paul.
Other contenders: D’Angelo Russell, Desmond Bane, Mike Conley.
OK, let’s say that Fox beats out the three “other contenders.” Move Doncic out of the convo if you like and count him as a wing. Fox would still have to run the table on the “could catch” crowd to make the top 6, barring injuries.
It’s an extraordinarily narrow path that calls for Fox to string his best three months of his NBA career together, coupled with more than a little injury luck / opposing player regression.
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Sabonis? The teams seem to have steered away from bigs over the years, eliminating the center position as being mandatory. That said, I would put Nikola Jokic, healthy Anthony Davis (that may be an oxymoron at this point), Karl Anthony-Towns, and Rudy Gobert ahead of him. His path is probably not as narrow as Fox’s, and Sabs has strung together the level of play to merit all-star consideration in the past. Still not good odds, but better than Fox.
I can’t fathom anyone else on the roster getting named to the all-star team this year, but as always (and is often the case), I’d love to be wrong.
With Brogdon gone, it’s a possibility. Indiana is probably going to be terrible, which will prevent it from happening.
The only thing that Fox has going for him is what Dejounte Murray did last season. He basically came out of nowhere to have a spectacular season on on otherwise unspectacular team. Fox we need to do that while also getting the respect of coaches and players around the league to get their vote. There is zero chance he’s in the top 10 of fan vote.
It still blows my mind that the Spurs traded Murray away. He seems like the guy you build around.
I think that SA displayed the pragmatism that the Kings have lacked over the years – the ability to rip the band-aid off.
The Spurs were not going to become relevant anytime soon, barring a stroke of good luck. Murray turns 26 this Fall and has two years left on a good contract. The Spurs looked at the situation and determined that three draft picks and a potential pick swap was more in line with their future than a player that was not going to right the ship on his own, given the assets of the team at prior to the trade.
Very solid point. They’ve also positioned themselves very nicely with their salary cap, currently sitting around $24M below the cap. They can use that space to get even more future assets if they so wish.
Full admission, they are my dark horse favorite to eat Westbrook’s deal for what’s left of LA’s future assets. Spurs also don’t currently have anyone who can play point guard on their roster, and Westbrook is not about to add wins to that team. I have them as a lock for worst record in the league this year.
Westbrook to SA makes sense but can the SAS get enough for this rental?
Murray was a good player- had a bit of empty calories on a bad team. This was the time to move him since the rest of the talent would never catch up to him I suspect he takes a dip with the Hawks. SAS wanted to position themselves for 2023 draft.
I think Hawks find themselves in the same situation as Cavs with Sexton and Garland.
I think Murray went from underrated to overrated and the Spurs must know something that they would trade him or perhaps it’s simple as wanting best odds to grab the number one pick next yr
Sabonis could certainly outperform Gobert or AD this year as the hub of an exciting (and maybe winning!) offense.
The guard situation is tough, but I think there are a lot of guys who could get injured, and a lot of guys who could regress. At the end of the day, Fox would need to put up near-30 ppg with 6-8 assists on a playoff team. But to me, only Booker, Ja, Luka, and Steph are locks to be a better guard than him this year.
The way you laid out the bigs in the West actually gives Sabonis a decent chance.
Jokic is a lock, AD is always injured and who knows how the Kat/ Gobert dynamic plays out. It’d be cool to see the two Euro bigs playing together up front.
Edwards is going to put Fox farther and farther away in the rear view mirror.
I don’t anticipate the coaches will rush to vote for a guy they regularly target in their game plans that is putting up numbers on a sub .500 team.
I think if the Kings have a winning record by the time the all star votes are finalized, that means either Fox or Sabonis will have a strong case to be on the roster. If they’re around .500 or under, I don’t see voters getting excited about any Kings player even if someone like Fox is putting up career numbers.
I really don’t really care who wins. I want the Kings to get to the playoffs and I truly believe that is what the Kings want too.
Steph and Luka are absolute locks. But it’s not impossible that Fox can beat out Paul, Lillard, Wall, and Westbrook as those aging stars cede to the next generation. He’d need to really elevate his play and outcompete the like la of Ja and SGA, but it’s not impossible. I suspect if we’re winning, this team is going to get a lot of media hype. I think the national media is really ready to get around a Fox-Sabonis era for the Renaissance Kings and that will help in an All-Star race.
I totally forgot about Wall. He’s gonna get more fan votes than Fox just because he is playing in LA.
Westbrook? Lol
This is our year.
Metu is gonna be an All-Star this year.
HK, the only one with real estate left on Metu Island 😀
No doubt that Fox has All Star talent??
Six years as a middle of the road point guard is his only record.
A quick first step is not All Star talent.
Fox is interesting. He was not the most highly recruited guy at Kentucky and not considered their top player. Yet he was drafted first out of all of them. And drafted on potential. The 4-5 coaches he has had to endure slowed down his progress and I am not sure about the Kings developmental staff. I see him as the “little kid that we let play point guard at Kentucky but got drafted high” And the little kid needs to grow past his self-perception of being just that_ the little kid that coach Cal let play point guard. Malik Monk was considered more of a star than Fox. Now that the roles are reversed, we may see some progress.
I don’t think Fox cares.
If we extrapolate the question-
are there any Sacramento Kings who will be invited to participate at All-Star Weekend-
Keegan Murray for Rising Stars Game
Davion Mitchell – possibly
Any 3 point contestants? Kevin Huerter perhaps?
Any Skills Challenge entrants? Domantas Sabonis? De’Aaron Fox?
Slam Dunk- ….
Celebrity Game – Anjali World?
Yep, I think it’s possible that Fox and Sabonis could both make it. Domas is probably a better bet than De’Aaron just due to less big men in competition for that spot.
But if the Kings win games at a 45 win clip? I’d expect the Kings to have at least one of those two in the game.
What does Fox do to earn a spot on the West All Star team?
I think Sabonis has a shot. To me, it depends on how well the wolves do for the first half of the season.
I think it depends on whether having Sabonis as a teammate truly did unlock All-Star level Fox and, related, how much of an outlier Fox’s last 15 games of 21-22 were. If he can maintain that level of performance to begin the season up through to early February, I think he will probably make it.
He had 28.9 PPG, 6.8 APG, and 1 SPG. I think counting stats are still looked at a good deal by All-Star voters. If the Kings can also be halfway decent, I think Fox will get in as an injury replacement. It seems there are always 2-4 of those each year.
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