Sacramento Kings: 1st Half Grades for the Sacramento Kings

A lot has happened for the Sacramento Kings in the first half of the season. The team fired head coach Paul Westphal in January and promoted Keith Smart as interim head coach. There has been movement to get a new arena approved in Sacramento within the coming weeks. Some players—like Isaiah Thomas—have greatly exceeded expectations, while others—John Salmons—have been huge disappointments for the Kings.

But seeing as how the first half wrapped up after Wednesday's victory at Washington, this is a perfect time to grade the first-half performances of the Sacramento Kings. I took a few different aspects into consideration when compiling my grades:

1. I looked at on-court performance in the first half of the season.

2. I took a player's expected performance into consideration, and weighed my grades accordingly.

Hopefully you enjoy the slideshow, and feel free to comment at the end.

DeMarcus Cousins

Grade: B+

DeMarcus Cousins has been excellent for the Kings in the first half of the season. He's been the most consistent player for the Kings. With Cousins, you pretty much know what you're going to get, which has been consistent rebounding and solid low-post scoring.

Because Cousins was the No. 5 selection in last year's draft, he was expected to have a solid season. Even taking that into consideration, he's greatly exceeded expectations.

Cousins is a much improved rebounder. After averaging 8.6 rebounds per game in 2010-2011 in 28.5 minutes of action, Cousins has improved substantially without a huge jump in minutes.

This season, DeMarcus is averaging 29.5 minutes per game, but he's bringing in 11.3 rebounds per game, with 4.5 rebounds per game coming as offensive rebounds.

His scoring has increased a bit as well. After averaging 14.1 points per game last season, Cousins is averaging 16.4 points per game this season. He's also decreased his turnovers from 3.31 turnovers per game last year to 2.78 turnovers per game this year.

But there are still areas in Cousins' game that he needs to improve. After having a 43 percent field-goal percentage last season, he's only improved minimally to 43.6 percent this season. He also still gets into foul trouble on a consistent basis, averaging 4.12 fouls per game, compared to 4.10 fouls per game last season.

Tyreke Evans

Grade: C+

Evans' grade isn't higher, largely because he's basically the same player that won the Rookie of the Year Award in 2009-10. Don't get me wrong. That still makes him above average. But we already knew Tyreke was an above average NBA player.

He's done nothing to dissuade that status, but he's also done nothing to greatly improve upon it.

He's still a well-rounded player. He averages 17.3 points per game, 5.2 rebounds per game and 5.3 assists per game. Those are great numbers, but they're pretty much in line with his career totals.

However, he has made a few minor improvements to his game. His turnovers per game have dropped from 3.23 last year to 2.88 this year. He's also improved his free-throw percentage every year and now shoots 79.8 percent from the line, compared to 74.8 percent as a rookie.

Tyreke's playing best when he drives to the basket. Teams know this, so they play off Evans, giving him opportunities to knock down open jump shots.

But Evans' outside shot is still inconsistent. If he could consistently knock down long-range jumpers and three-pointers, it would greatly improve his game, forcing teams to play up on him, which would allow him more opportunities to get to the basket.

Jimmer Fredette

Grade: C

As you might expect from a rookie, Jimmer has had his ups and downs. To a certain extent, this hinges on a lack of inconsistent playing time since Keith Smart has taken over as head coach, but Fredette was inconsistent even with Westphal manning the bench.

Jimmer averages 8.0 points and 1.2 assists per game. On occasion,s he's shown his ability to score at the NBA level, but he needs to become more consistent.

His 37.5 percent field-goal percentage needs to improve. But his three-point percentage—also 37.5 percent—shows the signs of Fredette's ability to light up the scoreboard from long range, which was something he was known for at BYU.

In order to improve, Fredette needs more consistent playing time. But to get more consistent playing time, he needs to capitalize on the opportunities he's given. It's a conundrum Fredette faced often in the first half, and he needs to overcome it if he wants to tap into his potential in the second half.

Francisco Garcia

Grade: D

Francisco Elson has seen a precipitous drop in his playing time this season. After averaging 23.0 minutes per game over the course of his career, he's down to 15.4 minutes per game this year.

Not only is 'Cisco playing less, but he's also not as efficient as he's been in past seasons. His 35.4 percent field-goal percentage is considerably lower than his 43.9 percent career field-goal percentage. The same can be said of his three-point percentage, which is also a career low 30.5 percent.

While it's understandable for Garcia's cumulative statistics to drop due to a decrease in playing time, his rate statistics have dropped as well.

He's still a solid perimeter defender, but his ability on the offensive side has dropped, which is why he received a "D."

Donte Greene

Grade: C

Donte Greene's not having a stellar season by any stretch of the imagination. That said, he wasn't really expected to set the world on fire, so he's playing about as well as expected.

His scoring is slightly down at 5.6 points per game, compared to career averages of 6.2 points per game. But he's also only playing 13.8 minutes per game, which is his second-lowest since his rookie season of 13.2 minutes per game.

His overall field-goal percentage (41.5 percent) is slightly up from his career averages, while his three-point percentage (23.1 percent) is substantially down. Greene is also committing less turnovers at 0.60 turnovers per game, compared to 0.91 turnovers per game for his career.

He's been a decent rotational player for the Kings in the first half of the season. That closely resembles the expectations for Greene entering the season, so his performance is average.

Chuck Hayes

Grade: C-

Hayes has performed slightly worse than expected. While Hayes has always been undersized at for a 4 or 5 at 6'6", 250 pounds, he's gained a reputation as a rebounder and decent defender. For the most part, he's helped fill those voids for the Kings, only at a slightly lower clip than his career averages.

Hayes' efficiency as a rebounder has dropped this season. Entering this season, Hayes averaged 10.2 rebounds per 36 minutes. This season, he's averaging 8.9 rebounds per 36 minutes.

Hayes has never been known as a shot blocker, largely because of his lack of size. But he's still been seen as a solid defender. The same can be said for this season, so, in that respect, Hayes has done about as well as expected.

But since his rebounding efficiency is down, he's performing slightly below average in one of the categories where he's been a stalwart in the past.

J.J. Hickson

Grade: D

J.J. Hickson has been a disappointment for the Kings. There's no other way to slice it.

After averaging 13.8 points per game and 8.7 rebounds a year ago for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Hickson has seen a dramatic decrease in his production this season. This season, Hickson is only averaging 5.0 points per game and 5.2 rebounds per game. That's considerably less than last year.

It's not like Hickson is a veteran in the twilight years of his career either. At only 23 years of age, it was expected that Hickson would progress this year. At the very least, Hickson should have kept similar production. Instead, Hickson has regressed considerably.

While Hickson's minutes are down, it's not like his ratio numbers have stayed the same. After averaging 17.6 points and 11.1 rebounds per 36 minutes last year in Cleveland, Hickson is only averaging 9.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per 36 minutes this season.

His field-goal percentage is only 37.4 percent, which is atrocious for a power forward.

Again, Hickson is only 23 years old, so an improvement in his play is not out of the question. But it's safe to say that he was underwhelming in the first half of the 2011-12 season.

Tyler Honeycutt

Grade: Incomplete

Honeycutt's only played nine regular season minutes all season. No, that's not a typo. In fact, due to Honeycutt's lack of playing time, there aren't any pictures of him playing in the NBA. The only ones I could find are from his days at UCLA.

Honeycutt's two biggest performances were when he played four minutes against the New York Knicks and four minutes against the Denver Nuggets. In both of those games, Honeycutt scored two points. He also recorded two steals against the Nuggets.

In all seriousness, it would be impossible to judge Honeycutt on a nine-minute sample size.

If he keeps working hard in practice and the Kings keep losing, then maybe he'll get considerably more playing time in the second half of the season.

For now, he should just be happy the Kings haven't sent him to the NBDL.

Travis Outlaw

Grade: F

Outlaw is in the middle of his worst NBA season since his rookie year of 2003-04.

He's averaging the fewest number of minutes (10.6 minutes per game), scoring the fewest number of points per game (3.1) and bringing in the fewest rebounds (1.4) since his rookie year. He's also setting a career low in field-goal percentage at 28.9 percent.

It's not like Outlaw hasn't been a productive player in the past. He averaged 13.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game in his career year of 2007-2008. He's also got career averages of 9.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game.

What Outlaw's done this year is nowhere close to the production the Kings were hoping to get from him. When Sacramento signed him, he was seen as a rotational player who could provide some scoring off the bench and knock down three-pointers.

Instead, he's provided next to nothing offensively, and is only shooting 16 percent from downtown.

John Salmons

Grade: F

John Salmons has had some productive seasons in the past, some of which came in a previous stint with the Kings.

Salmons spent 2.5 seasons in Sacramento—from 2006-2007 to the 2008-09 trade deadline. During that time, he averaged 13.1 points, 4.0 rebounds per game, 3.0 assists per game, shot 47 percent from the field and played lights out perimeter defense.

He was also a productive player in his time in Milwaukee and Chicago, averaging 14.7 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

But since Sacramento traded for Salmons leading up to the 2011 NBA draft, he's been an absolute disappointment.

Salmons started for most of the first half, but since he was averaging 7.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and is shooting a career-worst 36.1 percent from the field, Salmons lost his starting job in the last few games of the first half.

Considering what Salmons has done in the past and his expectations entering the season, it's safe to say that Salmons' first half was nothing short of horrendous.

Isaiah Thomas

Grade: A+

I've been paying close attention to Thomas since the season started. In fact, I wrote an article about how well Thomas has performed since the season began. And he's only ratcheted up his game since then.

After being tabbed "Mr. Irrelevant" for being the last player selected in last year's draft, Thomas is proving that he belongs in the NBA. Not only does Thomas belong, it's looking like he might have carved out a place as a starting point guard.

Thomas was elevated to the starting point guard over the last four games of the first half. During that span, he's averaged 19.5 points per game and 6.5 assists per game. Granted, it's a small sample size, so we can't put too much stock into it.

But Thomas has been a consistent contributor throughout the season. He's averaged 8.8 points per game and 2.9 assists per game over the course of the season. That places him seventh among NBA rookies in points per game and sixth in assists per game for rookies. He's also got a 2.35 assist/turnover ratio, which ranks ninth among rookies, but fourth among rookies that play at least 10 minutes a game.

Being the last pick in the draft, the odds were that Thomas would be either in the D-League or buried on the bench. Instead he's a consistent contributor and one that's only getting better by the game. It's safe to say he's been the biggest surprise for the Kings, especially given his expectations.

Jason Thompson

Grade: B-

Thompson hasn't been particularly better than expected. He's putting up comparable numbers to the past couple of seasons. But he's improved other areas of his game beyond your normal statistical benchmarks.

For one, Thompson has struggled with fouls in the past. In his rookie year—2008-2009—he led the NBA in personal fouls with 314. Since that season, he's slowly decreased his personal fouls.

This season, he's averaging 2.3 personal fouls per game, compared to 2.8 last season. In terms of fouls per 36 minutes, Thomas now averages 3.4, whereas he was at 4.4 fouls per 36 minutes last season.

He's also decreased his turnovers considerably. Last season, he averaged 2.0 turnovers per 36 minutes. This season, he's down to 1.5 turnovers per 36 minutes. 

While his scoring and rebounding numbers are line with what was expected of Thompson entering the season, he's begun to eliminate the things that have hurt the team in the past.

Marcus Thornton

Grade: C

Thornton's grade largely depends on where you evaluate him from. Do you evaluate him based on what he's done throughout his career?

Or do you evaluate him based on what he did after getting traded to the Kings last season?

I graded Thornton based on his production with the Kings last season, rather than his career. After all, the Kings wouldn't have given him a four-year, $33 million deal if they didn't expect him to duplicate last season's performance.

Thornton's performance this season is pretty much in line with what he did for the Kings last year. If anything, he's seen a bit of a drop in his production. But the drop in statistics isn't very large, and Thornton's been marred with nagging leg injuries in the first half of the season, so I'm giving him a little leeway.

Thornton averaged 21.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game last season for the Kings. He also shot 45 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from three-point range.

This season, he's averaging 18.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals per game. He's also shooting 41.5 percent from the field and 35.2 percent from downtown.

He's down slightly from last year's production. Again, he's had a few nagging injuries, so I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt.

Hassan Whiteside

Grade: Incomplete

Tyler Honeycutt's played almost twice as many minutes as Hassan Whiteside. And Honeycutt's only played nine minutes all season, so that tells you how infrequently Whiteside actually gets on the court. So much so, that there aren't any images to be found of Whiteside.

We see Keith Smart (listed in the picture) way more than we see Whiteside.

If it's impossible to judge Honeycutt on nine minutes of play, then how can I judge Whiteside on five minutes of play?

He's a big body (7'0", 235 pounds) and he's relatively young, so he has potential to mature into a role player. But Whiteside is in his second season now, and he still hasn't improved enough to garner normal garbage time.

He only plays extreme garbage time, like when the fourth quarter in blowout losses to the Miami Heat and New York Knicks in their most recent road trip.

However, he did record a block in each of those contests, and brought in two rebounds in one minute of play against the Knicks.

Looking on the bright side, he's already more than doubled his playing time from last season, when he played two minutes during the whole season (although he did spend significant time in the D-League last year).

Given his relative youth and his God-given size, there's reason to think that he might improve enough to eventually get off the bench. But it hasn't happened yet, and it's impossible to fairly assess Whiteside on five minutes of play.