We were warned of the lack of size on the Sacramento Kings roster during training camp and preseason. Mike Brown spoke of the starting lineup not being particularly a large one and how they were going to need to make up for that with physicality on defense. As the season goes on, this problem continues to present itself in the team’s losses.
Coming into Sunday’s game against the New Orleans, the Kings had been at the wrong end of a beat down three times already this season at the hands of the Pelicans. One would expect the Kings to come out with a new strategy to try to counter what the Pelicans did in the first three losses. Nothing doing – because honestly, there might not be much that can be done. The Pelicans, a team with a nearly identical record, dominated the Kings once again by disrupting the offense and getting any basket they wanted on the other end (61% from the field and 54% from three).
There is certainly room to call out the team for a lack of toughness and leadership based on the bad losses this season, but the size issue continues to be relevant with this roster. To highlight this, let’s compare the Pelicans roster with the Kings roster.
According to Crafted NBA, here are the Pelicans players who are in the top 200 in the NBA in terms of length:
- Brandon Ingram (28th)
- Naji Marshall (57th)
- Herbert Jones (109th)
- E.J. Liddell (114th)
- Larry Nance Jr. (137th)
- Jonas Valanciunas (141th)
- Zion Williamson (200th)
And here are the Kings:
- JaVale McGee (65th)
Yep.
In Sunday’s game, everyone on that list for the Pelicans played other than Williamson, who was out with an injury. McGee played 6 minutes for the Kings.
The Pelicans have five players who are top 150 in wingspan. The Kings have 3 – McGee, Trey Lyles and Alex Len. And Len and McGee typically don’t play in the same games.
Length helps on both defense and offense. On offense, players with length and long wingspans can simply see over defenders for both passes and shots. They also can cover more ground on the court, which helps with good transition play.
Let’s take a look at some examples of where the Pelicans were able to easily score as a result of this.
Here, Ingram is matched up with one of the Kings best defenders in Chris Duarte. An obvious mismatch, however due to each players’ size. Ingram simply dribbles past him and rises up over him. Keegan Murray is late to react, and basket.
This time let’s try Harrison Barnes. Ingram drives right at him, into a fadeaway jumper right over the top of Barnes.
Next, let’s try Murray at the same exact spot. Same result.
Next, let’s try Murray on the same exact play on the opposite side of the floor. Monk’s help defense is able to get about as high as Ingram’s elbow.
How about Trey Lyles on a dibble drive by Ingram? Push shot made over the outstretched Lyles.
Here, Ingram uses his height and length to see over Murray for a nice pass into Valanciunas, who is triple teamed under the basket but is the biggest guy down there, so he makes the shot.
Nance Jr. drives inside and uses his strength and length to recover and shoot over Kessler Edwards, who Brown tried to throw out there to help stop the onslaught.
Herbert Jones flies through the Kings defense in transition over Sabonis and Barnes.
On defense, length helps taller players compensate for slower reaction times. This helps with lateral movement and enhances their ability to block and contest shots by covering more ground and recover faster. There is a reason the Pelicans lead the league in deflections.
The Pelicans really disrupt the Kings drives.
De’Aaron Fox uses his quickness to cut his way to the free throw line, but Trey Murphy, who is 236th on the length list, is able to recover and snag the ball as Fox goes up for the shot. Granted, it looks like Fox may have lost the handle on the ball, but that might be because he knew Murphy was closing in.
Malik Monk is stopped in his tracks by Nance Jr., who proceeds to easily block Monk’s attempt at a shot at the basket.
Here, Sabonis attempts to shoot over Valanciunas. That’s a no go. On the fast break, Naji Marshall easily finishes over the much smaller Davion Mitchell.
Fox drives to the basket and is crowded by the big body of Williamson, only to turn and face the length of Jones, who contests the shot and forces Fox into a turnover.
There is a lot of talent among the Kings key rotation players and they have the team in 5th place in the Western Conference, but when you only have one guy on your roster in McGee who can compare with the opponent in terms of length and said player is in the twilight of his career and averaging 8 minutes per game, it causes quite the matchup problem. Especially when that opponent can take away your main scoring threat: the three-point shot. The Pelicans held the Kings under 35% from three in all four of this season’s matchups. (The Pelicans are 4th in opponent three-point percentage.) The Kings also lost the rebounds and points in the paint battles in each game.
Teams like the Pelicans are a scary thought when considering a playoff matchup because without some changes to the roster, we shouldn’t expect much to change in a 7-game series. Oh, and they still have to play the Pelicans again on April 11.
Nice analysis. Thanks.
Basketball is a game of trends, and one of the recent trends was small ball, with basically 4 guards and one big forward, all quick and with plenty of spacing and outside shooting.
But trends bring countertrends and some teams started looking for guys between 6’4-6’10 (and with guys like Chett and Wemby, even over 7 feet!) who are quick on their feet and switchable on D (and O) that can bother these small ball lineups.
We need to find ways to deal with that.
Slightly off-topic; Poku is rarely playing at OKC. Can he be had for little? I’d take a flyer on him.
Big centers close to the hoop- out. Small ball out. Length in. There have been a number of teams that have emphasized length- Toronto may have been the first, OKC, Orlando and NOP.
Many teams have 1-2 lengthy guys primarily for defense- Johnson in Atlanta, McDaniel’s in Minnesota.
Raptors will lose Siakem for zip without a trade. He wants a big next contract but the option to determine that. If Kings got him, they could pay him more than anyone else. Not sure if that is good enough for him.
Kings have tried to get length – Edwards, JTA, , Okpala etc. but not successful.
Too often, Fox, DS and Monk play 3 a way catch and do not look for any other options, even when other options are open. The options- Duarte, passive Keegan, HB and KH have not been tempting. So it makes some sense.
Kings could use an alpha offensive guy- to take the pressure off of the pas to each other triad.
The window is closing.
Kings draft picks are not useless but not at all a key to success.
HB for salary match to start then FRP’s for Siakem (have to be careful on the rent issues), Kuzma, Markenon (probably not on the trade block), D. Murray (lengthy guard)
K. Johnson might be outside the SAS preferred window, so he might be available except he is not lengthy.
Window- Suns, LAL, LAC, duds and Grizz all fading. Houston, OKC, SAS rising. Denver, Minnesota and Dallas will be around for a while. Kings stuck, unless trade to stay ahead of the risers and compete with the not going anywhere ones.
Have to leverage HB + some future assets to add a piece.
I really might consider taking a chance on Siakem- they all say they won’t commit, most like it here when they get here, where else can he get the same money? answer- nowhere.
Not many sellers this year: Toronto, Bulls, Washington, ? Hornets,
I do despair. The shooting around the we don’t pass the ball triad carried the team last year. Not this year.
What about girth? And the motion of the ocean … 😉
Apropos of length, which type of addition to the roster would be better: a long wing, a bigger 4, or a true stretch 5 like Brook Lopez. In an offseason podcast, Jerry Reynolds suggested going after Lopez.
Based on the current roster, I would say a long wing. That 2/3 position with a 6’8/6’9 guy with 7’0 ish wing span.
They need them all!
What is scary is that Monte etc knew the Kings needed length and D at the 2/3/4 but did nothing about it. Is Monte building based on a flawed model?
I still never understood drafting Davion for this exact reason. You can’t have a short guard unless he shots the hell out of it.
And I never liked the Huerter get for similar reasons. Doesn’t defend. Old Barnes doesn’t either.
i also wonder how smart it is to build around Sabonis, who does not have length? We will see.
The Kings had better start moving or they are gonna be stuck at this level.
I’m going to push back on this a little. In the time that McNair has been at the helm, he took a rudderless organization that had set the NBA record for consecutive years out of the playoffs and transformed them into a team that won 48 games last year and is pacing towards 50 this year.
Is the roster flawed? Absolutely. But it is flawed when comparing it to elite teams. What he inherited was flawed when comparing it to NBA teams.
I liked Moody over Mitchell, but I also liked Ivey over Murray. Given Monte’s drafting of Haliburton, Mitchell and Murray, I would give McNair a good grade when it comes to drafting.
Huerter for what will wind up being a non-lottery pick was a good get. He was a big part of the transformation last year.
My understanding is that the Kings were after Kuzma a bit, and had an interest in Thybulle. Unfortunately, the Kings are but one of thirty NBA suitors, and the cards didn’t fall their way. Barnes was the default signing. Certainly not pristine, but the perils of this team at the wing would be even worse right now if Barnes was not on the roster with no viable alternative.
This team is really built around Fox, not Sabonis. Having said that, there are very few alternatives at center in today’s NBA that are better than Sabonis. Javale McGee has length. How would you like to watch that for 30+ minutes a night?
I will agree with anyone that says that if you are not moving forward in the NBA, you are falling backward. And the Kings roster has some serious flaws when it comes to competing at the top of the NBA’s ladder. But overall I’m pretty happy with where this team is right now, with hopes of incremental improvement that propels this team forward.
I agree with all your points. I left out a lot in my post. I know the team is built around Fox and then Sabonis. Just didn’t write that.
I also think Monte has done a great job overall. I am being nit picky because I want to see this team become a true contender. Has Monte kept this roster flexible with assets to move or has he got us stuck in a rut (relatively speaking)? Not necessarily a rational thought by me but I do wonder. That’s where I was coming from.
Yes, Heurter was an ok get at the time but I didn’t love it cause the D is was needed.
I do however LOVE the Monk get. Trade for Trey-great considering the Baggagely he got rid of.
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