Realistic Expectations for Nik Stauskas' Rookie Season with the Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings selected shooting guard Nik Stauskas with the No. 8 pick in the 2014 draft. Now they need to find the best way to utilize him in what figures to be a crowded backcourt. 

Of course, the team selected another shooting guard the year before in Ben McLemore. McLemore's presence alone made the position an intriguing one to watch. It'll be interesting to see whether the two youngsters can develop with what's likely to be some sort of timeshare. 

Veteran guard Ramon Sessions was also signed by the Kings this offseason. While Sessions has been primarily a point guard during his seven-year career, he's also logged time at the 2. Adding him to the roster could also have an effect on the way Stauskas' rookie season shakes out. 

With all things considered, what type of role is Stauskas looking at as a rookie, and in light of playing time, what type of production can the Kings expect from him? 

Those are the two questions we'll examine. 

Stauskas' Skill Set

Before we look at the other players on the roster, let's look at what Stauskas brings to the table. 

In way of his skill set, one thing is clear of Stauskas: He can shoot the ball. No wonder he's a shooting guard.

The 20-year-old knocked down 44.1 percent of his three-pointers during his two years at Michigan. It wasn't like he did it in a small sample size either. 

Stauskas played 75 games at Michigan and launched 390 three-point attempts. That averages out to more than five three-point attempts per game. 

What's interesting about Stauskas, however, is his effectiveness from all areas of the three-point arc. Unlike some players who stick to only one or two areas for their production, Stauskas is lethal from nearly everywhere. 

Just take a look at his college shot chart, via ShotAnalytics.com. 

ShotAnalytics.com

What's more, Stauskas isn't simply a spot-up shooter. He can knock down shots off the dribble as well. Here's what Draft Express' Matt Kamalsky wrote about the guard's shooting versatility and how he stacked up against other guards in his draft class:

"Scoring a sample leading 1.156 points per-jump shot, Stauskas was tremendously consistent both off the catch (49% FG%) and off the dribble (38% FG%) as a sophomore."

Stauskas was also effective as a ball-handler in Michigan's offense, specifically in pick-and-roll situations. Once again, here's Kamalsky with the breakdown:

"

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Stauskas's profile is that he led this group of players with 29.5% of his possessions coming as the ball handler on the pick and roll. Averaging 4.6 pick and roll possessions per-game, up from just 1.5 per-game a year ago, the Canadian shooting guard picked up much of the slack left behind by Jazz point guardTrey Burkein Michigan's half-court offense while continuing to shoot the ball in spot-up and off screen situations at an All-American level.

"

That ability means Stauskas can help the team in more ways than one. It should also help him carve out playing time in an increasingly crowded backcourt. 

The Competition

There are a couple players likely to impede Stauskas' playing time, chiefly McLemore. After being drafted highly a year ago, he was the Kings' starting 2-guard for much of last season. That experience is what will likely give him the upper hand as the season opens. 

McLemore's rookie season was underwhelming in a lot of ways. Most notably his production on offense was lacking. 

The shooting guard logged 26.7 minutes per game but only averaged 8.8 points and 11.9 points per 36 minutes. He also only knocked down 37.6 percent of his field-goal attempts and 32 percent of his three-pointers. 

However, he did pick it up a bit down the stretch. Over his last 21 games, McLemore averaged 12.4 points on 40.7 percent shooting from the field and 32.7 percent from downtown. He also chipped in 3.1 rebounds and 1.2 assists over that time frame. 

Perhaps no game was as encouraging as his last of the season, a 104-99 loss to the Phoenix Suns. In it, he scored a career-high 31 points on 9-of-20 shooting. But what stood out most were his 15 free-throw attempts, which is even more impressive considering he averaged only 1.7 attempts per game on the year.

In order to be effective, McLemore needs to attack and get to the line. 

But as Kings general manager Pete D'Alessandro told Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling, he likes McLemore's progress and thinks he can shoot the ball much better than he showed:

"

We're really happy with Ben. We're seeing continued progress with him. You can see when guys get to their second year, the level of comfort becomes a lot greater. Nik eventually will experience the same thing. But Ben is very different from Nik. Ben is an incredible athlete, and he can shoot the ball very well but struggled last year.

"

That comfort level may be what pushes McLemore over the top as the season tips off. However, if, as D'Alessandro suggests, Stauskas begins to experience the same thing, it should open up more playing time for him. 

Even though Sessions is also on the team, he won't be as much of an impediment to playing time as McLemore will.  

For the first five years of his career, Sessions was primarily a point guard. That's changed over the last two seasons, which were spent between Charlotte 2012-13; '13-14) and Milwaukee (2013-14).

In 2012-13, Sessions played 46 percent of his minutes at the 1 and 54 percent at the 2. Last season, he logged 52 percent of his time at the point and 48 percent at shooting guard. You can expect a similar breakdown with the Kings.

Sessions will get a lot of minutes due to his ability to handle the ball. That'll allow him to share the court with both point guards and shooting guards.

It'll also allow the Kings to employ a position-less approach, which they'd like to implement.

What sets Sessions apart is his ability to create for himself and for others. It's a unique skill set that makes him a true combo guard.

As a scorer, Sessions has averaged 16.4 points per 36 minutes. But it's how he gets those points that's noteworthy. 

Take last season as an example. More of Sessions' field-goal attempts came at the rim (462 of 769) than in any other zone. Yet only 42.2 percent of those were assisted. The rest were opportunities he created for himself. 

NBA.com

That also explains his 6.6 free-throw attempts per 36 minutes.

Yet he can also create for others.

Throughout his career he's averaged 6.5 assists per 36 minutes and 4.7 per game. That includes last year, where he saw those numbers dip to 5.5 and 4.1, respectively.

That versatility will ensure Sessions gets plenty of playing time. But it will also make it so he can be paired with any combination of Stauskas, McLemore or Darren Collison. 

Stauskas' Role and Expectations

There isn't much to go off in forecasting Stauskas' role with the team. About the only thing we do have are summer league stats. They're somewhat helpful since both the rookie and McLemore were on the team together. 

In the Las Vegas Summer League, McLemore averaged 29.1 minutes per contest, while Stauskas played 28.9 minutes a night. Those two figures were tops on the team. 

What you can glean from that is the Kings tried to give McLemore and Stauskas equal playing time.

However, those figures are problematic for a couple reasons. First, it's summer league. While the Kings wanted to perform well—and they did, winning the summer league title—they were also focused on development. 

Secondly, both Stauskas and McLemore were starters on that team. That won't be the case in the regular season. 

But just because they both won't start, it doesn't mean they won't share the court together at times. D'Alessandro indicated as much when the Kings drafted Stauskas. 

Of course, the other component is how Stauskas will fare when he's on the court. That's a bit harder to forecast, but we have a few indications. 

His shooting ability will be a boost to a Kings squad that only knocked down 33 percent of its three-pointers in 2014-15

With Collison and Sessions on the team, Stauskas won't get many minutes at the point, but we know he's a capable ball-handler from his time at Michigan.

So what does all this mean for Stauskas' expectations as a rookie?

It means you can expect ample playing time, some scoring and better shooting percentages than we saw from McLemore a year ago. 

It won't be a Rookie of the Year-caliber season for Stauskas—he won't have the same liberty that other rookies like Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker may get—but it'll be a good foundation for what's looking like a promising career. 

Stat Projection: 18 MPG, 8.0 PPG, 2.0 RPG, 1.5 APG, 0.41 FG%, 0.38 3P%

Unless noted otherwise, all stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference.

What are your expectations for Nik Stauskas? Let me know on Twitter @SimRisso