The NBA announced today that Kings center Domantas Sabonis was named Western Conference Player of the Week for the games played between January 9th-15th. Sabonis averaged 18.5 points, 14.3 rebounds and 10.3 assists over those four games and most importantly, the Kings went 4-0. Kings forward Harrison Barnes (25.5 points, 66.7% from the field and 64.3% from three) also received a nomination. The Knick’s Jalen Brunson won for the East.
It’s well earned recognition for Sabonis, who is not only playing the best basketball of his entire career, but leading the Kings to their best record in 16 years. He seems almost a certainty to make his third All-Star game and is making a strong case to be named to an All-NBA team as well, something that hasn’t happened for the Kings since DeMarcus Cousins.
For the season, Sabonis is leading the league in rebounding at 12.6 a game, and his 7.1 assists are the best of his career (and tied for 12th in the entire NBA). He’s already set the franchise record for consecutive double-doubles at 20 and that record will likely keep growing. His efficiency has never been better (61% from the field, 38% from three, 74.9% from the line) and, oh yeah, he’s been doing all of this while playing with a broken thumb.
Domantas Sabonis hasn’t even been a Sacramento King for a full year yet, and he already might be in my top five favorite Kings of all time. I knew he was good, but I never expected him to have this kind of impact or to make the Kings this fun to watch. A lot of credit also belongs to coach Mike Brown, GM Monte McNair and the other players, but Sabonis has been the fulcrum point for this turnaround and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for both him and the Kings.
Well deserved. The dude truly is an Ox.
Nothing hurts like a whistle…or lack thereof.
Love seeing Arvydas and the rest of the family at home games now, in his loft at the arena. He’s definitely not a man of emotion, but on the rare instance he gives a clap it’s for a beast of a play.
Amazing production over a 4-game span! Congrats to HB as well…64% from 3!
He should be an All Star.
In my mind, he’s a top 15 player this year. If he’s not an all-star AND on an All-NBA team it would be a travesty…like kicking a puppy.
Him and Jokic starting would be something
It’d be like the Globetrotters.
Full disclosure: I am wrong about a lot of things. That said, the one thing that never made sense to me was the discourse out of Pacers land that Sabonis was some sort of ball stopper on offense, a negative impact to the offensive flow. I surmised at the time that it might be more about Carlisle’s offensive approach then it was Sabonis as a player, and his assist ratio and usage really didn’t line up with the commentary, either. But under Mike Brown, he is Sac’s version of Nikola Jokic. If (a) the Kings sign him to his next contract and (b) he stays healthy (a relative term since he’s doing all of this with a broken hand!), he could become the greatest big in Sacramento Kings history (C-Webb may be tough to catch, but Vlade and Brad Miller are in his sights).
An absolute pleasure to watch, night-in and night-out. And none of the above touches on how much of a fan Sabonis is when his teammates execute. He sets a standard out there and acknowledges the efforts and performances of others. He also seems to be a bit of a networker / politician with the other teams after the games, which could bode well for future free agent signings.
Could. Not. Be. Happier.
Also, he plays the game with joy! That’s a pleasure to watch.
Ha! I almost posted he same thing about being the greatest Sac King of all time! If the Kings can get him to re-sign in 2024, which would likely be a 4-5 year deal, he’d end up being a King through his early 30’s and beyond. If he continues at the current pace, gets a few more all-star nods and takes the Kings deep into the playoffs for the next 5 years, he could easily get the title of best Sac King ever. C-Web had the wins, Mitch carried a city, but Sabonis might be both combined. Wins, all-star appearances, and some franchise records all await him. Sac leader in rebounds, assists, double-doubles, triple-doubles, offensive rebounds, etc. could all be his if he’s the team leader for the next 7+ years.
I remember those comments. Maybe he was not utilized well in Indiana.
I like his brand of basketball. A center who has peripheral vision, skill, passing ability, court awareness, and IQ. Those seem to be logical necessities for a player who occupies a central position on a field/court. Only, in basketball it’s rare to find that in a player who also has the height and physicality to match up with the giants.
How about this as another comparison for discussion. The player who we all hoped Harry Giles would become if his knees held up.
I think Carlisle and the other Pacer players had no idea what to do with him. He would be a ball stopper f they just stood around looking
Actually, his numbers the last 3 years were very similar to this season . Carlisle is on record calling Domas a basketball savant .
Totally agree. And not only that shared joy, but on the other end of the spectrum, he will voice his displeasure when a teammate screws up. He does it firmly but respectfully; the way good leaders do. I am impressed by his leadership as much as his play.
Yeah, in addition to his immense talent, he’s making the team better (something I couldn’t say about Cousins) and he is an absolute joy to watch (cheering on his teammates, always going all out on every play, etc.)
I loved Hali, but I love Sabonis, too, and what he has brought to this team. What an important piece to the turnaround for this franchise.
I may be wrong here, but in the year Domas was in the NBA draft I recall you were a proponent of the Kings drafting him.
Maybe the word “proponent” is incorrect, but you were noting his stats, his passing skills, a high motor and his family pedigree as worthy of a hard look as a Kings draft pick as Kings fans went through our pre-draft exercise of trying to squint into the future over on the other site, and now TKH, making our cases for who should be the actual pick.
He is actually getting better at everything he already does well and with his work ethic I will not be surprised at all to see him develop into a very good defender.
He is a force multiplier. The Kings and Coach Brown and his staff deserve credit for acquiring him and turning him loose on the NBA.
I never feel the Kings are out of a game this year. What pure fun.
I watched Domas quite a bit in Pacers uniform. He was well liked by your average pacer fan attending games, but you are right, the pacer social media, blog-based fans had developped a bizzare negativity for Domas, the predominant argument being that he is taking the spotlight away from Miles and not allowing to develop Miles into that dominant superstar that he was destined to become before Domas arrival. Hence, many of those ‘expert’ fans were rooting for Domas to be shipped. Interstingly, Miles did seem to grow increasingly bitter as Domas played himself into the starting unit, and then into 2 all-star appareneces.
I’m not really sure that C-webb is that hard to catch given that C-webbs peak was short lived. Domas is a top 3 Center in the league and if he ever figured out C-webbs mid range shot In that center post area where he does his damage he’d be unstoppable. I also feel albeit nitpicking he should stop putting so much English in his layups and maybe he’d have another 4-6 buckets a game. Al in all he is 26 years old entering his prime and he is a King and that’s all that matters!!
Webber got hurt in his in his 5th (post) season with the Kings, dealt in his 7th. 377 regular season games plus 53 playoff games. Domas will probably need four more regular seasons after this one, and probably a couple of additional post seasons beyond that. So yeah, catching C-Webb is possible, but it won’t be easy.
It’s still early in his tenure, but I’m not sure that Sabonis isn’t already a more dominant and complete player than Miller, VD, and Webber.
Man, how quickly we forget. Healthy C-Webb was on a par with prime Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett at the time, the best player on a team that played better than .700 ball his last two healthy seasons. And we’re ready to call Domas “more dominant and complete” after 56 games as a King?
I may get there someday, but I’m not there right now. Not even close.
Webber had 45.5 WS out of his 84.7 total. (23.5 of those shares went toiling for the DC Bullets.) His highest WS/48 in Sac was .179 (99-00), .186 (00-01), ,200 (01-02), and .127 in 02-03. In those years, the next highest WS/48 guys were Scot Pollard (.183 WS/48 in 99-00 led the Kings) in the 99-00 season (along with 5 other players of .100 or better — Funderburke, Barry, Stojakovic, Divac, and Williamson), in 00-01 Webber led 8 Kings (Stojakovic was 2nd highest that year at .182 to Webber’s .186) including the same 5 just listed plus Doug Christie and Hedo Turkoglu, in 01-02 Webber led the team again in WS/48 at. 200 (Stojakovic was 2nd at .179, and there were 7 other players; only Bobby Jackson is a new inclusion at this time), and in 02-03 Webber had a WS/48 of .127 which was good for 7th on the team that year (Stojakovic led the team in WS/48 at .199 which was one of 10 Kings to post a .100 mark this season).
That’s probably why some are noticing Sabonis’ season this year who does lead the Kings at a WS/48 of .241 (Good for 5th in the NBA behind Nikola Jokic at .315, Anthony Davis at .277, Jimmy Butler at .246 and Joel Embiid at .245). The next highest is De’Aaron Fox at .133 WS.48, followed by Chimezie Metu at .131 WS/48, Harrison Barnes at .129 WS/48, Richaun Holmes at .110 WS/48, Trey Lyles at .103 WS/48, Kevin Huerter at .100 WS/48 and Malik Monk at .079 WS/48. (Keegan Murray is at .063 WS/48.)
It’s not just that Sabonis is having a higher year in terms of impact than Webber, it’s that he’s significantly better than the next best Kings player (Fox) in a way that’s noticeable. Some of that is debatable (I don’t think the gulf is as wide as that metric says, nor do I think Holmes has been an above average player this season among many other things), but I think Webber was the best player among a really talented group of players overall.
Not every metric captures value overall, no doubt. It’s very much a chicken ‘n egg argument, and it speaks to the fact that Domas isn’t really a selfish or bad teammate that he hypes his guys successes even though so many want to give him (deservedly so) credit for the roster’s success.
Take Jokic for example? His next best guy in terms of WS/48 is Aaron Gordon at .174. Anthony Davis plays with some guy named Thomas Bryant (.200 WS/48) and that LeGM guy has a .146 WS/48. (Westbrook is a .030 WS/48.) Jimmy Butler has that Bam Adebayo feller clocking in at .136 WS/48. Joel Embiid has James Harden at .210 (Harden is avg’g 22 & 11 dimes for Philly this year; wowzah!).
It’s quite possible that by the time it’s all said and done Rob, the season Domas is having is the best individual season a Kings player has had in the Sacramento era.
No argument there. And one season does not a career make, hence my original comment:
Not for nothing, but when Webber was injured in 03-04, the Kings were 43-15 when he came back. There are plenty of other factors to consider, but this is most on-point. Webber’s first season in Sacramento (strike-shortened), the team was 27-23. And that roster included VD, about whom I’ve read, a better big than Sabonis. With that in mind, there’s a whiff of team underachievement there.
Any out-of-era conversation like this is, of course, patently ridiculous, but when I look at Sabonis’ skill set, it’s closer to Demarcus Cousins. Had Cousins been able to stay healthy, and out of his own way, I don’t think there’d be a ton of argument about who the most dominant Sacramento-era Kings’ player was.
Had Cousins been able to stay healthy, and out of his own way, I don’t think there’d be a ton of argument about who the most dominant Sacramento-era Kings’ player was.
But he wasn’t able to, which is why he is not mentioned in the same breath with Webber (or Mitch Richmond).
Sum of their compared contributions, Sabonis cannot, in my opinion, be compared to Webber yet. Hell, he’s only played 3 more regular season games than Webber had playoff games for the Kings.
I’ll stand by my original statement. Sabonis can eventually catch Webber, but it won’t be easy. It will take good health and a good team to get him there.
This is my thought mainly at this point: It’s awesome it’s even a discussion that is deemed worthy of thought exercises.
Agreed 100%. The win-win trades are so rare in sports. This trade benefitted both teams and their respective fan bases.
Yep, win-win trades are rare. Even more so in the age of social media.
Been thinking about another trade idea, but Richaun Holmes for Goga Bitazde seems like something both sides would consider. Richaun’s a buy low project at this point, but it might be a good way to use cap space this season for Indy considering. Bitazde might be the kind of inside/out big the Kings are looking to back up Domas.
Eh, just noodling here. Just thought I’d throw that Richaun-Bitazde idea out there cuz I guarantee I’m the only out there that thinks Indy might consider it.
Goga has had multiple run in’s with coach Rick.
This is a possibility esp. since Hali works so well with Richaun.
Not sure of Goga’s contract situation or how well he bangs underneath.
I might consider kicking the tires on Nik Richards who has fallen to third on depth chart. He bangs and has some offense.
Yeah, I can see Bitazde being available for that reason. He’s an expiring deal about 4.5M this season. But the Pacers have cap room so it’s not much of an issue in that regard. It’s just whether or not they want Richaun and the remaining 2 years on his deal.
I didn’t say Cousins should be mentioned, only that his skillset resembled Sabonis’ more that VD or Webber.
Cousins was a black hole. He never shared the ball.
Vlade and Webber are known for passing.
You never watched them play did you?
If Giles had knees he would have been better than Cousins.
Woulda…..coulda…..shoulda……DID NOT
TBH Rob, my reactions centered around the time of: Holy shit, how did they did trade Buddy Hield? It’s not that I truly thought Buddy was untradeable, I just didn’t see the Kings getting a productive trade out of moving him. Boy, was I glad I was really wrong on that one.
Fast forward a year later, I was reading a comment on Indy Cornrows I made after the trade that centered a lot on Buddy last night (not so much on Domas/Hali since I knew that would be the focus). This is the salient comment (I finished by saying I think it’s going to be a win-win for both sides) of the 800 (I’m rounding up to the nearest whole number) or so paragraphs I typed over there:
What’s crazy about this is if you look at Buddy’s season, he’s doing better than he has since the 18-19 season that got him the extension…..but it’s not like ‘Wowzah’sOMGincrediamazeballs” better than any of the 3 seasons prior to this one. It’s just….it seems like (without having seen as much of Indy this year as I’d like) Buddy’s shot selection has improved under Carlisle. Huh. Imagine that? Buddy Hield’s shot selection leading to a more productive player. Who knew such things were possible?
That to me is the sneaky element of this deal for Indy. It’s not that Haliburton is so good for them, they gave him the keys and he’s run with it. It’s that Buddy Hield is still a NBA player and if teams are paying attention they might want him provided they run him out there with 2 playmakers like Indy does with Hali & Nembhardt (whose been really good the few times I’ve seen him; dude’s got a real shot at a 10 year career).
But the flip side of all that is this. I credit the Pacers, Carlisle and what not for the season they are having. But there’s no mention that, despite having so many veterans with ‘established’ NBA games……everyone is better across the board. Take WS/48 for instance. Here’s a list of players from both rosters who are having career highs in that area (by a dramatic amount in a few cases):
Domantas Sabonis
Tyrese Haliburton
Myles Turner
De’Aaron Fox
Harrison Barnes
Kevin Huerter
Take Myles Turner for instance. His best WS/48 season came…..in Paul George’s last year in Indy. Harrison Barnes has a higher WS/48 this season than he did his 3rd season when Golden State won their first title since the ABA/NBA merger. Sabonis is obliterating his WS/48 over any year he had in Indy as an All-Star or as a talented reserve. Fox has a higher WS/48 than any other in his career…and for awhile he, too, was oblierating his highest WS/48 when he was nearly .200 (he’s now at .133 and if he finishes strong he might be around .150 or .160, which would smash his next highest mark at .118 from the 20-21 season). Huerter has a .100 WS/48 which is career high and was much higher than that when he was shooting much better before the season took hold and the daunting reality of the NBA hit. But for all the talk about how much better Huerter looks shooting the 3 this year, where has he dramatically improved? His 2pt%. Where has Barnes been dramatically better? 2pt%. Fox is having a career year there. Sabonis is having a career year in 2pt% (and in FTA).
The reality of this trade was, and if you were paying attention you could spot it, was that this trade took puzzle pieces that didn’t quite fit and added them to players who do. Roster construction on both sides were a lot messier than some realized, and while the focus on Indy is Haliburton’s brilliant season, there’s still a ton of focus on Sac’s messy roster construction despite the offensive brilliance happening on that side of the ball. But it just doesn’t fit the whole “can’t build an elite anything around Sabonis” and it just doesn’t fit that Fox can contribute to winning basketball or that the Kings can operate as a smart organization. There wasn’t enough shooting, there wasn’t enough defense, there wasn’t enough smarts in the room. Whoops. Guess there was.
That’s the damning shame of it from the national view. In the rush to scream “Kangz to the high heavens”, a lot of national media people are simply missing the beautiful basketball the Kings play on offense alot of the time. I’m hoping that changes, but I’m not optimistic. It’s a lot more fun for some of those people to pretend.
It’s what Jerry said all those years ago is in his bright, breezy memoir. When you put talented coaching (Mike Brown’s done a brilliant job maximizing the offensive output of this team which it seems like nobody outside of Sac is noticing because we gotta talk about the defense instead) and talented players together, you get some wonderful basketball to watch. Wah-lah!
Before the season, if you asked me, I thought Sabonis was capable of 21, 15 & 7. At the time, I thought the toughest mark for him to hit was 21. Maybe the 15 was too much, too. But 20, 13 & 7? Not out of the question. And I always knew Domas could average 7 assists on this team. I was thinking De’Aaron Fox could average 24 & 7 on a 60 TS%. He’s averaging 23.8 & 6 on a 59.5 TS%.
Me? I’m just having a blast watching this team most of the GD time. That’s what I want. To enjoy myself. That’s the point. This group plays together (when they are functioning that way), they hold themselves accountable, there’s a lot of talent on this team and hopefully more coming at the deadline. What a time to be alive!
The Kangz are dead. Long live the Kings. 🙂
Interesting that in the years Hield had competent coaching that he’s played his best.
What a waste of three years and millions of dollars.
Great piece Nate. You totally summed up my feelings about this year’s team. They are so fun to watch, they play so well together (most of the GD time!). It has been so long since I’ve experienced this much pure pleasure watching the guys play and grow together. I have a feeling they are only going to get better and possibly………possibly will see the defense improve as the offense has tho maybe not quite to the same level. I have a ton of faith in this team and the coaching staff. Happy days are here and better days will be coming.
TAKE THAT, AUSTIN REAVES!
IN YOUR FACE, KEVON LOONEY!
The guy was a man before he was a man.
Photo taken from this article. You can switch to English translation in the top right:
https://www.lrytas.lt/stilius/karamele/2019/12/28/news/domantas-sabonis-pasidalijo-jaukia-vaikystes-akimirka-myliu-tave-teti–13052208
Is that Will Ferrell with a man child and midget?
It is Domas, and Dadmas (j/k–Arvydas), and I’m not sure who the other person is on the right. An NBA scout, maybe?
NBA Scout George Santos, perhaps?
The NBA has never been the same since Santos retired in from the NBA in the 90s after winning six championships.
I think we don’t give Santos enough credit for the work he put into getting the Treaty of Versailles signed.
and inventing the internet
This photo is simply ridiculous, in the best possible way.
Anyway, dad looks more like an enlarged Ray Liotta than he does Will Ferrell.
And seriously: Don’t ignore your own Ray Liotta. If it asks you to hide a gun on your person, see your doctor immediately.
is that a beer or root beer?
Listening to Kings podcast at time of trade this is almost what Bird and Reynolds said about Sabonis . Wonder how many experts are having second thoughts regards Kings and McNair stupidity ?
Those experts’ opinions were MALPRACTICE.
Just another day in the life of people called “NBA experts.” The malpractice is already factored into the job title.
Everyone still thinks the kings lost this trade. They think that Haliburton is gonna take another step when he hits his prime in a couple years, and I wouldn’t doubt it. AND the fact that he’s a guard and this is a guard oriented league, Buddy Hield has had a pretty good year for them and a coveted trade target, and Tyrese is like 4 years younger.
Definitely deserving! Domas’ play has been top notch, the guy is a hand full for any defense to have to scheme for.
I haven’t been following what Tyrese is doing in Indiana, and it’s still too early to make a final judgment call either way, but man, Domas is a BEAST. The best big the Kings have had since Webber? DMC may have had more raw talent, but Domas is far more productive and his game and character are much more conducive to winning.
man, you should really see what he is doing over there. it’s spectacular
*when healthy
.
Just imagine if Monte hadn’t gotten to hire Mike Brown and we ended up with Mark Jackson instead.
Not disagreeing ,but have always found it interesting how much credit both Curry and Thompson gives Jackson in their development .
If a guy yelled magic spells at your ankle after you had several surgeries, and then you could play? Can’t leave an actual sorcerer out of your wedding toast.
Mark Jackson would have challenged my fandom, even beyond that of Luke Walton.
“So Vivek, that new Kings coach you hired…was his name Mike Brown?”
“No.”
“Would you mind telling me which coach you did hire?”
I let out the HUGEST sigh of relief when the news broke the Kings were hiring Brown.
That thought occurs to me everyday and I throw up in my mouth a little bit
As much as I really liked Hali, I’m stoked we have Domas! He and Fox are playing really well together. Fox got some good recognition from NBA.Com as well. Named #1 clutch player in the NBA. We got something good going in Sactown!!!
It’s a trade where both teams got better, which is pretty rare. It’s pretty clear on our end that Ty’s assists were easier to replace than most assumed. You throw the rebounds in, and life is good out west.
One thing I’ve noticed about Haliburton this season is that he’s not shying away from contact as much when he drives. As good of a free throw shooter as he is, that was one of the few things holding him back. How can you not love the kid?
Great to see. Now McNair needs to get him a credible backup, so we can reverse this trend of minute-creep he’s been seeing for the last 6 weeks or so.
This is awesome!
looks like coach Brown can still run. But how is his lateral movement?
can he play SF?
If this is a parody of something I don’t recognize it (this happens to me more and more), but the shot of Sabonis in a headset giving a thumbs up? Pure eighties sitcom gold.
It’s set to the opening credits from a very popular TGIF sitcom in the 90’s called Family Matters. You might have heard of Steve Urkel, that show made that character famous (and Jaleel White, the actor who played Urkel).
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