As the Sacramento Kings fight to secure its Play-In spot, Zach LaVine has been on a heater lately from the field.
LaVine leads the league in three point percentage at 44.5%. (Interesting note: Keon Ellis is 4th at 43.2%). More impressive for LaVine is that of the players in the top 10 in three point percentage, he averages 7.2 attempts per game. The second most is Kevin Durant at 6 per game. So, he takes the most threes of the group, but is the most efficient at the same time. He also is third in the league among shooting guards in overall field goal percentage at 51.3%.
Over the last two games, LaVine is averaging 40 points on an eye-popping 68% from three and 64% from the field.
For fun, let’s take a look at all of his combined 15 threes against the Detroit Pistons Monday and against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday.
Notice that none of these shots hit the rim. His shot form and space creation is impressive and incredibly easy on the eyes. He probably has one of the smoothest shots the Kings have seen since Peja Stojakovic.
LaVine’s fit on this Kings team is certainly a question.
The future of this roster and direction moving forward is certainly a question.
I, like most of you, have a problem with these things, but it is still really fun to watch LaVine shoot lights out and see opponents be unable to do anything about it.
Incredible shot making is fun to watch regardless of the Kangz that may be going on around it.
NBA.com has a shooting article today.
Zach leads in Pull-up 3s at 42.4%, but is not in the top 10 in catch and shoot.
Is there a stat for how many times he gets back-tapped for a TO before pulling up?
2.8 TOs per game so much less than it feels like for sure. Especially when you factor in the lazy cross-court passes for a TO and dunk.
He and Domas seem to be feeling each other out which is good news. I haven’t loved Lavine in Sacramento, but the scoring efficiency is nothing to sneer at.
However, he’s truly so atrocious on defense that you can’t afford to have him out there not scoring the ball. So if he’s going to play, I need to see 15-25 shots per game from him if he’s to justify the amount of points he gives up on the other end.
The Kings seem to be figuring this out. Lately I’ve seen DDR/Monk as the de facto point guard, Sabonis as the fulcrum, and Lavine scoring off the ball on the wing. Then two of Keon/Keegan/Carter/Laravia/Lyles play to fill the 3&D roles. The guys who are good at scoring and bad at defense are given a LOT of shots, and the guys who are good at defense and struggle on offense take what’s given to them. IMO these are the optimal roles given the roster.
Wait, I thought he was an inefficient chucker??????
He’s streaky, and not a primary ballhandler. So if you’re building a team with Lavine, you better have:
An offensive alternative for the nights that he’s off.
A defensive wing that can cover the better of the opponent’s 2-3
Someone that can handle to the point that you are reducing LaVine to catch/shoot and PnR.
Cap space.
I’ve never been a fan of adding Levine, mostly because of his contract, injury history, lack of focus/aggressiveness, and specialized skill-set (IMO, he requires players next to him to have certain skills – this constrains potential roster construction options), but his offensive prowess was never really questioned…as least I don’t recall him being labeled as an inefficient chucker by anyone with an eye for the game.
I tell you. You can’t hear it super clearly in the video, but the sound the net makes when a shot like #5 hits is beautiful!
He has a sweet shot, for sure. I also really like the ease with which he dunks the ball. No nonsense, just big hops and a quick easy throw down.
So, we won the trade?
LaVine has outscored Fox 648-335 since the trade!
10 fingers to nine!
Good enough for me to declare us the winner. Lol
If the rest of the NBA thought that was impressive would it not be easy to trade him? But they do not.
OT:Monk will be out through the play-in game(s).
So, available for the #8 v #1 matchup or the #8 v. winner of #4 v. #5?
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