After a promising preseason, there was a thought that perhaps Kyle Guy could earn a larger role in the Sacramento Kings rotation. Luke Walton rained on that parade with his comments on Guy in the preseason, saying he wasn’t sure there would be many minutes for Guy, and Walton remained true to his word.
Kyle Guy played just 235 minutes this season, despite numerous games when the Kings lacked depth at the guard position. During those minutes, Guy put up a stat line of 2.8 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists per game. For an average of 7.6 minutes per game, those aren’t horrible numbers but they still fail to leap off the page.
One of the more perplexing elements of Guy’s game was his struggles with his shot. Guy shot just 28.3 from 3, and 33% overall. Did Walton keep Guy on the bench because of these shooting struggles, or did Guy struggle because he was trying to prove himself and didn’t have time to get into a rhythm? It’s impossible to know, but we’ve certainly seen Guy shoot better.
Coming into this season I didn’t think Guy was an NBA-caliber player. In the preseason, I thought Guy looked like a player worthy of legitimate NBA minutes. After 235 minutes of play, I’m more confused about Kyle Guy than ever. I think there’s an NBA role player in there somewhere, and I really wish Walton had allotted a few more minutes to letting the Kings know for certain.
Guy will be a restricted free agent this summer if the Kings extend a qualifying offer of just under $1.5 million. I’d be surprised if the Kings give Guy the QO, and I don’t expect to see him back with the Kings next year. If this is the end of Guy’s Kings career, I’ll be rooting for him. He seems like a good teammate and a likable person, and I’ve admired the way he’s spoken about his mental health struggles. I hope Guy makes it in the NBA, but if he doesn’t I feel confident he could have a very successful career playing internationally.
Wait, Guy is a RFA with a QO option at $1.5M? How does that work with him being a 2-way player? I just figured he was a UFA.
If that is the case, then the Kings should definitely just renounce his rights if only to get rid of the cap hold. He may find his way onto an NBA roster but I think he’s got about as much hope as someone like Frank Mason III, in being a fringe NBA player, bouncing from the G-League to 2-way deals and 10 day contracts.
At the end of a 2-Way the team can give a QO and have RFA rights. If they don’t plan on keeping him I’m sure they’d renounce his rights if they need to.
It really makes little difference Greg. But they did the same thing with Daquan Jeffries last off-season FWIW.
I think he shot poorly because of confidence and not getting into his rhythm. There was one game where he got to the line early and made two free throws, which got him going, I think he buried three 3s in the following possessions. From what I’ve seen, I’d say he should be playing overseas like Jimmer.
I’m sure if his shot were going in, this would be a totally different discussion. I agree that he didn’t find his timing or something was off for him. He seemed to handle himself well on the floor with NBA types. Maybe it was Waltons early statement that kept him of kilter. He had it once. Hoping it was just an qlich for him and he finds a home somewhere when it returns for his sake. Seemed like a Good teammate. Wish him well!
I’m sure he’s a nice kid and can play some hoop.
But in the NBA he’s just another Guy on the fringe.
Not an NBA player. Best to cut bait this offseason and give that roster spot to a player with potential to stick.
I think Guy’s destiny is a foreign league such as China. Not a bad gig to live aborad and get paid well to play a game. Wish him the best.
I’m not sure if he is or ever will be an NBA player (the best way to discover it would have been let him play more minutes, I guess…), but during the years I’ve definetely seen much worse scrubs getting paid in the 1 million $ range to play 20-25 mpg in the Euroleague (which IMO is much better than getting maybe 200k $ to play in the G-League + one or two 10-days contracts, although many American players seem to think otherwise, probably because they think in this way they have more opportunities to go/get back to the NBA with a long term contract).
We could give his spot to Napoleon Dynamite (Jason Preston) who can probably tell us by the sound of our cowbells if we got into an onion patch. … or to a number of other guys.
Despite some opinions to the contrary, I don’t think Preston would get drafted. However, a good camp invite and I suspect better than K. Guy.
Grade: Incomplete. Too small sample size.
Was never really a believer in Kyle Guy mostly due to his size, but he did prove me wrong by being able to get his shot off in the paint which I thought he would struggle to do.
I think his ceiling is a Yogi Ferrell type of player providing a spark off the deep end of the bench, not something this team needs at this point. He would do much better in China, Spain or Italy. Would rather use his roster spot on someone else.
I’m still on the Guy bandwagon (he is a much better shooter than he’s shown in his limited minutes — see college and the G-League — and his playmaking has been a pleasant surprise), but I’d be stunned if he’s on the Kings next year. He doesn’t fit with Monte McNair’s vision of long and athletic, and I don’t think he’s shown enough for the Kings to want to keep him. But I still think he’ll emerge as a role player with someone, somewhere down the line.
Did anybody actually see him play?
Guy > Bagley
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