Domantas Sabonis was yet again the Sacramento Kings most reliable player. He helped facilitate the offense, attacked the glass and remained a double-double machine, averaging 19.1 points, 13.9 rebounds and 6 assists per game while shooting a 62.6% effective field goal percentage (84th percentile), according to Cleaning The Glass.
On the surface it appears Domas was as reliable and productive as he has ever been, and in most cases that is true. Diving a little deeper into the numbers uncovers a little more nuance that shows some of his defensive limitations still remaining, the evolution of his offense and what things might look like for him in the future.
Elite Offensive Production And Some Career Bests
Sabonis remains an offensive engine. As mentioned, his true shooting efficiency places him in the 84th percentile among big men. The Kings points per 100 possessions when he is on the floor is +3.7 points per 100 possessions, which was an improvement from last season.
The team’s effective field goal percentage jumped by almost 2 percent with Sabonis on the floor (also an improvement from last season), further illustrating his importance on that side of the ball.
Here are some career bests for the season:
- The team scored +7.8 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor (90th percentile).
- His midrange field goal percentage was a career-best 51%.
- His free throw percentage increased to .754 percent.
Though not a career high, his three-point percentage increased to 41%. He only took 2.2 per game. He shot 52% from three in his third season in the NBA, but only took .2 threes per game.
His assists dropped from 8.2 per game last season to 6 this season, which could be more about team chemistry and scheme this season than Sabonis himself. Regardless, that is a pretty big drop in playmaking.
On Defense: Some Concerns, Slight Gains
Sabonis remained stout in the rebounding category and led the league in double doubles with 61. He also was in the 96th percentile for defensive rebounding. The Kings as a team held opponents to -4.2 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor (83rd percentile), a vast improvement from the last two seasons.
Now to the not so positive: His rim protection abilities continue to be subpar. According to Cleaning The Glass, his block percentage is .5 percent, which places him in the 6th percentile among bigs. His steal rate dropped from 1.1% last season to .9% this season, putting him in the 18th percentile.
Impact and Availability
Regardless of his flaws, Sabonis does a lot more good than bad, and his overall on/off differential was +7.8, a career high and good for the 90th percentile. He plays hard and is consistent and that alone is enough for fans to get behind him.
That said, his availability did take a slight hit this season. After playing 79 games in his first full season with the Kings and 82 last season, he played in 70 this season. He played in just 62 games in each season for the Indiana Pacers between 2019 and 2022. So, it is worth noting given his usage rate and physical style of play.
Avoiding Contact A Little More?
It seems unimaginable with Domas, but his shooting fouled percentage declined from 17.2% last season (84th percentile) to 13.5% this season (63rd percentile). That is the lowest of his career aside from his rookie season. You can’t blame the guy for not wanting to get hit in the face repeatedly, but it is an interesting trend to keep an eye on next season.
Final Grade: B
Quite honestly, it is going to be difficult to give any player on the Kings roster a truly accurate grade this season. The Kings fired the coach, traded the best player, traded for another ball-dominant guard, and tried to make it all work without a true point guard all in the same season. So, things were not easy. But Sabonis remains an engine for the Kings. He had a great season in the midst of a lot of turmoil. But given his defensive liabilities, his drop in assists per game, the team having 6 less wins than it did last season and getting obliterated in the NBA Play-In Tournament, I couldn’t quite get him to a B+.
So, a B it is.
My hope is the Kings fill the roster holes and give him some stability next season to help maximize his talent.
Great stuff Blake!
Domas needs to shoot more and initiate the offense more to offset his defensive limitations. Can’t spend 43-50 million per on an elite rebounder. Don’t care how efficient he is if he doesn’t use it.
Otherwise we’d be better off with Dunk, Swat and Rebound center. Like a Jalen Duran or Walker Kessler.
Or give up some of the offense and passing for a large salary savings and better D with someone like Isaiah Hartenstein or even someone like Daniel Gafford or Jarrett Allen.
Should still get a B+ or A-, no other centers outside Jokic are getting 19/13/6 while shooting 60%. Shooting 3s at a high percentage just has to start popping 3-4 per game.
I wondered this same thing. If our team is functioning and built well, Domas should be in that role. He’s proven his 3 point ability. He’s shown durability, and the ability to do a damn fine Joker impersonation. I wonder what Jokic’s block and steal rates are. I feel like, professionally, being at 90% of Jokic should be the team’s goal for Domas. If he was at that level, he’d be an MVP. But I think we can build a better supporting cast than Joker has, so having Domas be *nearly* as dominant would be something!
Jokic this season: 1.6% block % and 2.4 % steal %.
Agree with the grade needing to be closer to an A. There aren’t too many players who do what Domas does in the NBA, stat wise. When you add consistency and availability…
Yes, he needs to shoot more!
Joker takes 19.5 shots a game. Domas 12.8, 4th on the team. You know how everyone talks about Keegan being forgotten on O? Keegan takes 10.8. Our most efficient guy gets 2 more shots than the forgotten guy.
Domas needs to shoot more, a lot more or he’s not worth the cap hit.
How is it his defensive abilities are “not so good” if he “vastly improved” his per 100? Regardless of whether he blocks shots or not, he’s preventing more baskets than he was the last 2 seasons. Does it matter “how”, specifically? He did a great job of making players go around him this season instead of straight to the rim and it fed his rebound #’s almost all season. So I don’t particularly care that he’s not padding my fantasy team’s block category, so long as the on-court results are fewer baskets made by the opponent. And its not insignificant that he’s doing it with players who tend to be defensive sieves 75% of the game in DeRozan and LaVine.
Now, that’s not to say we couldn’t use a shot blocker on the squad. I’m just saying, qualifying his defensive abilities relative to how you’d prefer he play defense isn’t particularly objective. He improved defensively, he made life difficult for the opponent and the stats bare that out.
With DeRozan added to the team, I believe Domas took a “glue guy” approach and tried not to rock the boat. I think the whole team did that the first month of the season and our record showed it. And then it was the DeMar show for a bit, and then they sort of started taking turns before they figured out a balanced attack. To maximize Domas you need to put him back as the focal point of the offense and not to play point center the entire game, he needs to mix in more post work and for god’s sake the man needs to learn how to make people pay attention to him at the elbow. If he developed a consistent elbow jumper, he’d add about 6-10 pts a game, easy. It would also lessen our dependency on whatever that high post hand off garbage is. That’s no Princeton offense, Doug, that’s a sad facsimile that needs to go away in favor of some actual plays until you can get the whole team to actually cut without the ball.
Anyways, free Domas. Or trade him.
#2cents
Leads the Association in rebounding for the 3rd year in a row. I find this significant enough to mention.
Tied for 3rd in triple doubles (Jokic with 34(!), Giannis 11,, LBj amd Domas with 10.
Is he graceful? No, not very much. And I believe that downgrades his evaluation by many. He is, as his moniker attests, an Ox. As Magnificent Max would say (about Fezzik) – He is The Brute Force.
My beef with The Domas- Ex Machina/Dominator this season, which had him look much the same player we’ve seen the previous 3 1/2 seasons though with improved shooting percentages, are his turnovers. Turnovers that were too often careless and unforced. If he cut that crap out, he’d be a solid A for me.
His work ethic and devotion to team play are A+. He needs help, Jonas is a wonderful back up, but please add a real life power forward that can 3 and weakside rim protect as a starter, and I believe he will fit better and the Kings will win more. (Naz Reid is still my hope).
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