Royal Roundtable: Reviewing the Kings season so far

One month of Kings basketball down, at least four (and maybe five? Six!?) to go! How have the Kings fared so far? We asked our staff to share their thoughts.

Q: Have the Kings met your expectations so far?

Kevin: Despite making few changes this off-season and “running it back” for the most part, the 2023-24 edition of the Kings has certainly been different. It’s difficult to get games like Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers out of my head, but I think when I zoom out, they’ve absolutely met my expectations and in some ways exceeded them. A lot of the off-season conversation about the Kings centered around what many viewed as unusual levels of injury luck, how that factored into their success and also somehow proved that they were destined to drop off this year. Fast-forward to this season and whether it was Fox, Lyles, Keegan, or Huerter, the Kings have had to do without various significant pieces every single game this season. The “injury luck” is officially gone and while I think it’s probably safe to assume the Kings’ record would be a little better had they not been short-handed for so many of these games, they’re also 10-7 and just a game off of last season’s pace. It’s been ugly at times. The shooting hasn’t been as reliable as last year. The Kings have had to gut games out. When they lose, they tend to lose BIG. But, I can’t help but think these are the types of tests that the best teams need to pass throughout the course of a season. The Kings have faced a good deal of adversity already this season and have found ways to win more often than not. Hopefully, this results in a more battle-tested team come April.

Rob H.: Close. From a W-L perspective, they’re only a game off. And there have been very few games where the core four (Fox, Sabonis, Murray, Monk) have been healthy and available. A bit of a team slump from deep to begin the season, but again, health. Overall, me happy.

Tony: For the most part, yeah. Losing back-to-back games against both the Rockets and Pelicans, teams you may see again in the playoffs, isn’t a great look for a team that needs to make it out of the first round this year. At the same time, they went undefeated in the In-Season Tournament and made it out of their group, so I applaud them for that. Injuries have certainly been a factor, so I want to see more of this team at full strength before making too many bold judgements.

Akis:  Given the bad injury luck the Kings have had so far this year (the team has yet to play a game at full strength), I’m pretty happy with the team still being 10-7 at this point, especially after a 2-4 start.  Sacramento’s schedule hasn’t been the easiest (Basketball Reference currently has them about 12th) but the Kings have found ways to win.  The defense seems slightly better than last year (the effort is definitely more consistent), while the offense hasn’t fully found the footing it had last season mainly due to inconsistent shooting.

Tim: I expected the Kings to be at about the same level as last year, and thus far, they’ve met those expectations. There have been some annoying losses and some awesome wins, both of which we’re going to witness over a full season of 80+ games. Combined, the starters have been about as effective as last year (on a group basis, not on an individual basis), and the bench has been about as inconsistent as last season as well. 

Zack: Considering the injuries to Fox, Keegan, Len, and Lyles, achieving a 10-7 record feels like a significantly higher outcome than I would have expected. There are individual elements of surprise like Keegan’s impressive defensive improvement along with the unexpected strength of teams like the Rockets that amount to me having to reassess the team’s potential in the long run while acknowledging some new short-term challenges.

Greg: Yes and no. Overall, I am happy with the team, and the Kings have absolutely shown us games that displayed what I hoped to see this year. The team is more seasoned than last year, and we’re seeing that in multiple ways: Fox being aggressive earlier in games, guys stepping up when someone else is injured, and an improved defensive effort from pretty much everyone on the roster. But I also hoped the Kings would have done a little bit more to truly announce that last season was no fluke. I’m annoyed by the poor shooting, and by the team’s unsettled rotation. I know a lot of it is due to injuries, but I was hoping the Kings would be a little more polished given their overall level of roster continuity. But I am not stressed, I feel like the good things outweigh the bad, and we still have a lot of season left ahead of us.

Q: De’Aaron Fox has been on a tear to start the season. What has stood out the most about his improvement?

Rob H: He is so much more engaged defensively, a true baseline-to-baseline player. I have to go back to Mitch Richmond to find a King that led both the offensive and defensive charge (Artest was close but not a true offensive force). Sabonis has looked much improved defensively this year, and Fox’s perimeter defense is a huge contributing factor.

Tony: The fact that Fox has been able to keep his 3P% at a respectable level while substantially increasing his 3-point volume makes me believe the days of Fox being a non-factor from 3 are over. You’ve got to guard him there, and he has evolved into one of the most unguardable players in the league.

But I’m even happier with his defense this season. I’m not ready to anoint him as a top defender in this league just yet, but we’re finally trending in the right direction here. 

Kevin: With the addition of a reliable 3pt shot at significant volume, De’Aaron has become truly unguardable. The fastest player on the planet is now forcing defenders to pick their poison anytime he touches the basketball and there are just no answers for what he can do to a team on offense. He’s currently the 4th leading scorer in the league and I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see him sitting at the number 1 or 2 spot at some point this season. When the ball is in his hands, he’s the most dangerous scorer in the NBA. He’s also taken a leap on the other side of the ball, as we’ve seen his defensive intensity and effectiveness ramp up to new levels. Whatever he did this off-season has unlocked something within him that very few players seem to find. Honestly, how many point guards in the league are playing at a higher level than De’Aaron right now? He’s made the leap no one outside of Sacramento believed he could make, and he’s a real deal SUPERSTAR.

Akis: De’Aaron Fox is blossoming into a true superstar this season and it has been a joy to see.  The biggest leap he’s taken has definitely been from the three point line, where he’s now become a legitimate threat.  He’s shooting about 38.3% of his shots from three, up about 11% from last season.  He’s also getting to the line more than ever, averaging 8.1 FTA a game (although his FT% has dipped of late).  His 30.7 points per game average is 4th in the entire NBA and he’s easily on pace to put up the best scoring season in Sacramento-era history (the previous best was DeMarcus Cousins’ 27.8 points average in the 2016-17 season).  It’s not just his offense that has taken a leap either; Fox has become one of Sacramento’s better defenders and as the head of the snake that’s incredibly important for this team.  Before the season, I wondered if Fox could be in the MVP conversation.  If Fox maintains this kind of pace all season, he definitely will be.

Tim: I think he’s taken a leap in almost every aspect of his game, which has been pretty incredible considering the fact that he took a massive leap last season as well. As mentioned by everyone above, his three-point shooting has reached another level, and that’s freed up the other aspects of his game that he had already mostly mastered. Consider this insane fact – over the first six seasons of his career, De’Aaron never finished in the top-100 of players in three-pointers made per game. He’s currently sitting at 14th in the league. After a hot start, his percentages have dipped a bit, but if he’s able to maintain that frequency and slightly-above-average accuracy, there’s quite literally no one that can stop him on the offensive end of the floor. 

Zack: His confidence. He is now fully aware of his ability to navigate the entire court effortlessly, dictate the pace of the game, and effectively defend against almost any perimeter player.

Greg: As others have said and as I wrote about yesterday, it’s the combination of his three point shooting and his effort and effectiveness on the defensive end. It’s just an absolute joy to watch Fox play.

Q: How have the new additions (Sasha Vezenkov, Chris Duarte, JaVale McGee, Colby Jones) fit in so far?

Rob H: I’ll just call it a work in progress? Both good and bad flashes from all (with a TBD for Jones). My guess is that Vez separates himself a bit becomes more of a rotation piece. My hope is that Jones can contribute as early as this season.

Tony: Incomplete. Colby Jones has been the most impressive to me, but he’s not playing right now. Chris Duarte plays hard, almost too hard (look at his foul rate), but I’m not sure he’s a rotation player on a good basketball team. JaVale McGee has been solid, but I think Alex Len is a better backup center at this stage of his career.

Sasha is the one I’m most intrigued by. That man loves to shoot the ball. His release is quick. He can shoot from way outside. When it goes in, it barely tickles the net. Mike Brown is starting to trust him with more minutes, and I think he will ultimately carve out a regular spot in the rotation. But defensively… well, it hasn’t been great. Teams are targeting him, but he plays hard, and I actually think it’s getting better, but if there’s any reason why Brown isn’t playing him, defense is likely the answer. 

Kevin: It’s obviously much too early to draw any real conclusions about the kind of impact these players will have the rest of the way, but I’ve certainly got some hasty generalizations to share. You can already see JaVale’s value as a bench piece that can provide a presence around the rim and allow the Kings to rest Sabonis without having the rebounding completely drop off a cliff. However, much like the entire menu at Taco Bell, JaVale McGee is a double-edged sword. For what McGee giveth, McGee (often) taketh away with frustrating mistakes and miscues on both ends of the floor. And while Alex Len appeared to have potentially supplanted him in the rotation prior to his own unfortunate injury, the McGee show will continue until further notice. 

Duarte has been equally frustrating for the most part. He’s been super inconsistent, but when his defense shows up, you can see what the Kings are hoping he can bring in big moments down the road. Time is going to tell whether the positives can outweigh the early season negatives.

I’m very excited about Sasha as it seems he’s begun to find his sea legs and is really starting to contribute on both ends of the floor. He was absolutely huge in the win over the Warriors and I fully expect him to have a breakout game on offense very soon. 

Colby appears to have a ton of promise; he’s interesting in that he’s clearly much too good for the G League but still has to earn a spot in Brown’s rotation. I hope we see a lot more of him this season.

Akis: The new guys have been a bit of a mixed bag, showcasing both good and bad, which makes sense for guys trying to figure out their spots on a new team with established rotation players.  Sasha has probably been the most impressive of the bench. He has been playing really well as of late, and his presence in the game against the Warriors was a legitimate game changer.  After not playing at all in the first half, he came in the second half and had some huge plays on both ends of the court.  He’s still figuring out the NBA game, but I’ve been impressed with his ability to make the right play and be in the right spot. I don’t think he’ll ever be an amazing defender, but as long as he isn’t an actively bad one, he can provide a solid role for this team off the bench as a sparkplug.  JaVale McGee has probably been more good than bad so far, but when he does do something bad it’s usually very bad, but that’s the JaVale experience.  Chris Duarte might have the most unaesthetic game on the Kings roster, but he’s a pest on defense. I wish he could be a little more consistent on offense though, and I really don’t like watching him trying to create his own offense.  Colby Jones was very fun in preseason, but in his few NBA minutes has looked a little tentative. I think he’ll end up being a really solid player with some more time under his belt, and that’s what’s great about the G-League where he’s already playing really well.  Colby’s ability to handle the ball and play both ends of the court could prove very valuable to this team at some point, just probably not this year which is fine.  Not all rookies have to come in and contribute immediately.

Tim: Chris Duarte was a bad NBA player last year, and he’s continued to be a bad NBA player this season. I’m completely unimpressed and enthralled with his contributions. Frankly, he shouldn’t be in the rotation, and he’s a glaring example of Sacramento’s continued lack of wing depth. 

JaVale McGee has been fine, although I still prefer Alex Len’s consistency and rim protection to JaVale’s vertical threat on the offensive end. 

Sasha Vezenkov has been the best of the bunch, and his defense has been better than expected. I would love to see Mike Brown to continue to find minutes for him to test his mettle in this league. He could be a key contributor come playoff time, especially if the Kings need some shooting and rebounding at that four-spot. 

I haven’t seen enough from Colby Jones to hold an opinion. 

Zack: Overall, Sasha has been a disappointment this season. However, in the last few games, he has shown signs of gaining confidence and momentum. Throughout the majority of the season, he’s looked lost on defense, and seemingly has has no ability to make an impact inside the paint. I was starting to question whether he could even be a rotation player on a good team. But in the past couple of games, he has shown some real signs. He’s displayed a floater game, consistently contributed on weakside defense, and seems to have a better understanding of his role. Hopefully, this improved version of Sasha will continue to shine.

The most disappointing newcomer this season has been Chris Duarte. Initially, I had high hopes for him, believing that he would be a significant improvement over Terrance Davis, especially on the defensive end. While I do think he is better defensively, he consistently struggles with fouling and fails to live up to his potential. He also fancies himself a flamethrower like TD before him but lacks the (gulp) accuracy and energy that Davis brought to the court.

McGee has proven to be exactly as advertised – a reliable rim-running lob threat who can also block shots. While Colby Jones hasn’t had enough playing time for me to provide a thorough analysis, I have noticed in his limited run that he has some defensive versatility and hustle that could prove to be an asset in the near future.

Greg: I’ve been most impressed with Sasha, although he has adapted to the NBA a little slower than I expected. I still have hopes of him being an impactful part of the bench unit as the season progresses. With JaVale, you get the good with the bad. He’s been in the league long enough that we knew this going in, but the bad moments are still really frustrating. Overall he’s a fine backup big man, but I’ll be happier when Len is back and Mike Brown can simply use JaVale when he has a favorable matchup. I like what I’ve seen from Colby Jones so far, and I hope we can see more of it. Chris Duarte is probably my least-favorite rotation player right now. He frustrates me no end with his fouling and decision-making. I suspect I’d like him a lot more if he was 9th or 10th in the rotation, but injuries have shoved him into a bigger role early this year.

Q: How have you liked the addition of the In-Season Tournament?

Rob H.: I like it. I’d probably lose the point differential tie breaker for a winning percentage tie breaker. And maybe start it a few weeks later in the season. But the format does add some juice to the regular season, and both the players and fans seem to be really into it.

Tony: I love it. There are a million things I would do differently, but I’ve enjoyed the games. I’ve enjoyed having another thing to talk about. I’m excited to see how it wraps up.

I thought the Kings – Warriors game was pretty fascinating to watch. Golden State could have bled the clock out and potentially won the game, but they were playing fast to try and beat the Kings by 12+ to advance to the next round, and it kinda cost them the win. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad for the game of basketball, but it was an interesting dynamic you wouldn’t get in the regular season. 

Kevin: The In-Season Tournament is a huge win for the NBA imo. November basketball has been incredibly fun across the league and I don’t recall that ever being the case. The tournament’s name, tiebreakers, and incentives for winning probably need to get tweaked and I find myself googling the rules fairly often, but it’s fun and fun is good. 

Akis: The games themselves have been great, I think the NBA has done a good job of making these early season games interesting. It’s definitely been a conversation starter too as people check in and wonder what all the fuss is about.  I also think the excitement is going to ramp up during this next knockout stage and I’m thrilled the Kings have managed to make their way into the first ever one as these will be more reps with higher stakes for this young team.  There are a few things I’d definitely change though, namely the name (In-Season Tournament is the most bland name imaginable) and the courts. I think the courts did their job this season which was to be eye catching and draw attention that something different was happening, but some of them felt a bit too much and made for a horrible viewing experience. I think next season I would eliminate the background color and maybe simply just have the stripe down the middle. 

Tim: From a personal viewpoint, I don’t care if the Kings win or lose the in-season tournament, but I do love the fact that the players clearly care about winning and the prize money. It’s made random regular season games in November much more competitive, and I’ll never complain about that. 

Zack: I’ve never heard this many casuals discussing the NBA in late November. I think it’s a clear win if for nothing else it puts more shine on the NBA during the NFL season. Additionally, I think it helps teams without championship aspirations have something else to compete for.

Greg: The IST has clearly been a success for the league. There’s more attention on the league, I read that the Kings/Warriors game had something like 2 million more viewers than a game in the same time slot last season. And the players have bought into it, which was really always going to be the key. If the players care and play hard, the IST can mean something. The NBA seems to have understood more than we did just how competitive NBA players get when there’s bragging rights and a little extra money on the table.

Q: What do the Kings need to work on most on going forward?

Rob H: True wing depth – everything not named Keegan Murray feels like a bandaid. I think the 3 point percentage will work itself out, but it would be nice if we took it to the rim more quickly / more often when the deep ball is not falling. Easier said than done, since we have a lot of different guys chucking them, and the roster is not chock full of slashers. Maybe get the ball into Domas’ hands to distribute during these cold shooting periods?

Tony: I just think the roster as currently constituted is not ready for a deep playoff run. They could win a round depending on who they get matched up with, but I’d prefer an improved roster so you don’t need to rely on seeding / standings luck to advance.

They aren’t good enough defensively. Whether the move is Alex Caruso and your perimeter defense improves, or you bring in a forward to help Domas control the paint a little better, I still think this squad is a move away from making some serious noise. 

Kevin: Let me start by saying I fully expect the offense to get back on track and the machine to be operating at last season’s levels of efficiency soon. At some point they’ll get Keegan back and there are just too many elite shooters on this squad for that not to be the case. When the Kings’ cupboard is fully stocked and the ingredients are fresh, they have a recipe that’s proven to work. The question I’d like to see answered is, how will the Kings respond when they’re out of paprika and things aren’t going quite the way they’d planned? The Kings are really talented and sticking with what usually works is probably going to get it done most nights, but come April they’ll need to be a bit more innovative to succeed when things might not be going as planned and teams have time to scheme

For example, the Kings live and die by the 3 and they tend to settle for outside shots when they simply aren’t falling. This happened Wednesday night against the Clippers and attacking the paint would likely have yielded great results, but the Kings failed to make the adjustment soon enough for it to matter. Now that’s obviously just one (overly-simplistic) example and in all fairness the Kings may not have had the legs to pull anything off that night, but I want to see Mike Brown and the Kings start to make quicker in-game adjustments as necessary. That said, we’ve already seen them adding various wrinkles to address what teams have thrown at them this year, like the double high pick and roll, likely installed as a response to their struggles against the Pelicans’ size. Hopefully, there will be more tools like this that they can regularly deploy as necessary throughout the season, because to get to the next level they’ll need to be better at recognizing what’s not working, what defenses are doing to them in real time, and adjust accordingly.

Akis: I’m going to ignore what Monte McNair may or may not do to change up the actual roster since my other writers have already touched on that and focus instead on what this current roster needs to work on.  One of the biggest things is consistency on both ends of the floor.  Kevin mentioned it earlier, but the Kings have tended to live and die by the three this year.  They’ve upped their three point attempts from last season by almost five a game but they’re only making about one more a game.  I do think the Kings have had a bit of an unlucky streak when it comes to their three point shooting so far this year (Keegan Murray especially), but when the shots aren’t falling, they need to be attacking the paint to at least stop the bleeding. The Kings have found themselves in several large deficits already this season, even in games they’ve won, and a large reason has been due to their inconsistent nature.

It will definitely also help getting everyone back healthy though.  The Kings starting lineup of Fox/Huerter/Murray/Barnes/Sabonis has been phenomenal (they have posted a +16.9 net rating in 122 minutes) and has gone 6-2 overall, with one of those losses coming on the second night of a back to back against New Orleans in which Keegan got hurt and didn’t play the second half.  Coach Brown has had to shuffle the rotation and lineups several times because of our various injuries and that leads to inconsistency as well.  

Tim: The Kings need a better starter than Harrison Barnes. He’s been inconsistent and the defense has been atrocious. If Sacramento can find a way to add a starting 3/4 while keeping Barnes (which may not be possible), they’ll have solved both their starting and backup wing issues. If they can’t find a solution for their depth at wing, I don’t foresee a deep playoff run in their future. 

Zack: The Kings need more offensive versatility moving forward, especially when the 3 ball isn’t reliably falling. Keegan Murray has shown improvement in ball handling, driving to the basket, and his mid-range shot selection. Others should follow his lead and mix up their game. The offense has become too predictable at times, relying heavily on Fox to go one on one and bail us out when the offense becomes stagnant. The team could benefit from more cutting near the rim, specifically from players like Barnes, Trey, and Davion to prevent all the excessive standing at the three point line.

Greg: The Kings need to improve their overall level of execution. I like what the Kings do on offense, I like the effort and rotations on defense, but the overall level of execution needs to be better. The Kings have lapses that tend to cost them every game. Lazy passes, missed rotations, poor situational awareness. If the Kings improve the way they execute the things they are already doing, we’ll have a very fun team to root for even if the front office doesn’t make a big, splashy move.