What an absolute disaster of a season for Richaun Holmes.
After an offseason that saw him sign the longest and the richest contract of his journeyman career, Holmes walked into the year as the roster’s assumed starter and was considered a key piece of Sacramento’s core moving forward. But personal issues, injuries, and a severely reduced role tanked what was expected to be the best season of Richaun’s career.
The start of the 2021 campaign gave no indication that such disaster was waiting in the wings. The dual point guard combination of De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton were godsends for Holmes’ early season numbers, as the big man used his size, athleticism, and unique push shot to regularly dominate opposing teams in the pick-and-roll, mid-post game, and in transition. He scored 20+ points in four of the first nine games of the year, and over the first 20 games, Holmes put up 15 and 10 while shooting a league-leading 72% from the floor and 82% from the line. There were even some quiet whispers of fringe All-Star play if Sacramento’s starting center could keep up that level of play for an entire season.
And then the injuries struck.
After playing in 22 of the first 25 games of the season for Sacramento, Holmes appeared in just 23 of the next 57 games, and those appearances did not go well. He scored double-digits seven times, his highest-scoring output was 17 points, and he managed to record as many or more fouls than points in five of those contests. Even before losing his starting role to Domantas Sabonis, Holmes looked out of sync and uncomfortable on the floor, and his minutes continued to decline as he was replaced in the rotation by guys like Chimezie Metu and Damian Jones, players who were perceived as end-of-the-bench cannon fodder heading into the season.
In addition to his on-court struggles, Holmes was also plagued by off-court distractions throughout the year. After having missed some time due to personal issues in early February, it was revealed that his cousin had passed away unexpectedly, an understandable reason for Richaun’s seeming disconnect on the court, especially considering his injuries. The following month, the Sacramento Bee published an article detailing domestic violence allegations made by his ex-wife in an ongoing custody battle. Holmes did not appear in any additional games after those accusations were made known.
When considering individual expectations, salary, and goals of the team, this past season was easily the most disappointing of Richaun Holmes’ career. After a hot start that saw him blossom under his two point guards, Holmes’ injuries, replacement in the starting lineup, off-court distractions, and the jettisoning of his favorite pick-and-roll partner all served to make a tough situation even worse. Many believe his future in Sacramento has come to an end, as the likelihood of him regaining his previous value in a Kings uniform feels quite low. Sabonis and Holmes played just seven minutes together in the post-trade world, understandably considering their skill sets don’t mesh particularly well. This means Richaun will be fighting Damian Jones (an unrestricted free agent) and Alex Len for whatever backup center minutes are available in 2022, and that’s not even considering the small-ball lineups that the Kings will inevitably run.
Hopes were high for Richaun Holmes heading into this past season, but the myriad of battles that he was facing derailed his season to the point of potentially ending his time in Sacramento. It’s entirely possible that Kings fans have seen their last of Richaun Holmes in a Sacramento Kings uniform.
Let’s go ahead and put Holmes in a box until the other stuff plays out …
I hope we have seen the last of him. Where there’s smoke, there’s usually fire. Domestic abusers have no place in this organization. (Or at least they shouldn’t but often do, as Richaun, Terence Davis, Darren Collison, and a depressingly high number of other ex-Kings have proved over the years.)
Why don’t you let the legal system litigate this. None of us know the facts and none of us condone domestic abuse.
Of which there has yet to be a charge against Holmes in the legal system. He’s in a custody dispute, not facing criminal charges.
Fair, but personally, I’ve seen enough. Innocent until proven guilty is a legal doctrine and doesn’t apply to the employment of pro athletes representing billion-dollar franchises who make money by keeping their fans happy. We’ve just seen too much of this ugly b.s. coming from the Kings for me to fall back on the “well he hasn’t been charged/convicted/imprisoned” argument. I’ve lost count of how many “alleged” abusers, drunk drivers, homophobes, and all-around aholes this franchise has given a uniform to over the past decade for the sake of winning 30 games a season instead of 25. Enough already. That’s all my personal opinion, obviously, and reasonable people can disagree.
No one is forcing you to be a Kings fan or a fan of the NBA for that matter. If you have such a big moral problem with the franchise then stop supporting it.
Every case is an isolated incident, lumping Holmes into the same column with these other guys isn’t fair considering the current circumstances of Holmes’ situation.
I get your point, but my point remains: This is a custody dispute. Until we know differently, I’m going to treat it as such.
I’m sure there have been custody disputes by other NBA players, but I can’t recall one that had a player miss the last 11 games of a season. It feels and looks like it is more than a custody dispute.
Well, until I see something other than what’s been put out there, I’m going to continue to assume that’s it’s a custody dispute.
It’s not a “custody dispute” when someone accuses the other person of physical abuse. It doesn’t make Holmes guilty, but using that language implies the dispute is about who gets ice cream Friday, and completely dismisses the seriousness of the allegations.
I completely dismiss all allegations until they are verified elsewhere and by a different source. And will continue to do so until given reason otherwise.
That is not support or dismissal of anyone, just the reality of what happens when these things get into the public process.
Bad comment, unless you have all the facts
Guilty until proven innocent ! Not in my world but OK in political correctness destruction .
Here we go. The naive realism folks are going to start screaming about wokeness and political correctness and misapplied constitutional concepts!
Apparently, taking domestic violence or violence against women seriously is a characteristic y’all associate only with “political correctness” or the left. Lol.
Also, it’s clear none of you “innocent until proven guilty” honks have ever actually owned a business or been tasked with maintaining a work force. Newsflash, it’s not a rule for employment, but all you constitutional scholars probably already know that!
As I said, I am putting Holmes in a box for completely arbitrary personal reasons, but these series of responses to a comment that astutely points out the Kings awful history with dealing with employees with domestic violence issues is just all to predictable and sad.
So you believe all women . I do not and believe in a legal system and not guilty to fit an agenda . Sad and shameful !
Narrator: Not even the Government needs to establish criminal guilt to fire a governmental employee in an administrative disciplinary process arising from the Constitutional due process interests of the employee.
But tell me more about this legal system you know so much about … I’m on the edge of my seat anticipating so much learning.
Just an observation, but when accusations agains Luke Walton came to light there were all kinds of pitchforks and torches around here. There were few, if any, people saying he’s innocent until proven guilty. If there are folks here who defended Walton at the time, please stand up.
I feel a lot of that was because of the pre-conceived notions of Walton as a person and a player. He was the only one interviewed, an ex-Laker, and has a punchable face. He was definitely guilty until proven innocent in these threads.
On the flip side we have Holmes who is/was a fan favorite, he plays with emotion, is a lovable underdog, has a great mom, and has genuinely a likable personality. When his accusations come to light there are many who called for Luke’s head now saying we need to calm down and let things play out. Innocent until proven guilty.
We can’t have it both ways.
He was innocent until proven guilty and in fact deemed not guilty . Women do lie for selfish reason just like men .
Should be easy enough to trade a backup center at 12 mil x 3 year, whose play tanked, and who also faces significant legal troubles, right?
OT
Wish we can get a coach like Willie Green.
Quin says hi.
Another Jazz flameout.
Here’s my thoughts on the off court stuff…
I pass
these issues really F stuff up for the kings if they want to trade him or keep him. Until it’s resolved it’s simply super super shitty. I don’t even feel comfortable talking about his past season until it’s figured out within the legal process. Really sad no matter how you slice it or who slices.
there’s always a winner and a loser. That’s not true here.
Agree that his legal issues need to be resolved. The important part of his legal issues at this time is that they are only allegations. They are not charges that will end up in an actual legal process at this point. His legal issues may not exist. Allegations do not equal legal issues.
Hopefully everyone is ok and the legal issues never exist.
There weren’t any charges brought against Luke Walton either. They were just allegations as well, until they were dropped discretely by the accuser.
Maybe someone was paid? Maybe people make accusations to extort people?
Never……..
True, but it is and should be innocent until proven guilty .
Badge Legend