Sacramento Kings Power Rankings: Gauging Full Roster After First 6 Weeks

The Sacramento Kings have been one of the NBA's biggest surprises this season. Not many people had the Kings sitting at 9-9 after their first 18 games. 

Of course, a big part of that can be attributed to head coach Michael Malone's ability to get everyone on the same page. Yet a great deal of the credit needs to go to the guys on the court. A coach can only do so much, and the Kings players have made sure they're taking care of the rest.

Now that we have a decent six-week sample to go off, we're getting more definitive answers about the guys on the roster. The top two were a formality entering the season, as was the No. 3 player to a lesser extent.

But where would the rest of the roster fall? Would Ben McLemore make a jump in his second season? How would Carl Landry look after his injury? How would the pieces that general manager Pete D'Alessandro brought in acclimate to the team?

Those were all questions that needed answers, and we're finally at a position where we can start answering them. 

(Note: This is a ranking of the Kings players based on their overall production. Expectations were also taken into consideration, though. Someone who has made a big leap over previous performance will be ranked higher, while those who aren't living up to what we've come to expect will be lower.)

Honorable Mention: Eric Moreland

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Eric Moreland has spent most of his season in the D-League.

Eric Moreland is an honorable mention because he's only logged two minutes for the Kings. Not only that, but he has spent most of his time in the D-League with the Reno Bighorns, with a couple of call-ups to the NBA mixed in.

Moreland has appeared in five games for the Bighorns so far. During that time, the 22-year-old has averaged 29.3 minutes, 14.4 points, 13.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks. He's also shooting 58.9 percent from the field.

His appearances for the Kings came over two contests, although Moreland only has one rebound to his name.

At least he's officially an NBA player now. And if he keeps developing his game, there's a good chance Moreland will get more opportunities in the future. 

The Last 3

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Derrick Williams has had some solid games for the Kings.

13. Ryan Hollins

Hollins has essentially been the Kings' third-string center. DeMarcus Cousins is the starter, while power forward Jason Thompson usually spells DMC when he's on the bench. Because of that, Hollins hasn't logged too many minutes. 

He has started three games while Cousins is out with a virus, though. During those contests, he averaged 5.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 16.6 minutes per night. Of course, other than those three tilts, Hollins has only logged 11 minutes this season.

12. Derrick Williams

It's been hard to figure out Williams this season. He has missed five of the team's 17 games by coach's decision. In some contests, Williams has been pretty good. For example, he averaged 11 points and four rebounds in back-to-back wins against the Chicago Bulls, on Nov. 20, and Minnesota Timberwolves, on Nov. 22, as well as 18 points and four rebounds against Toronto on Dec. 2. 

On the other hand, in a loss against the Houston Rockets, on Nov. 26, he was held scoreless on 0-of-6 shooting in 16-plus minutes of action. 

11. Ray McCallum

One could make a case for McCallum to be slightly higher on this list. Sometimes, the point guard plays a pretty big role. He had had five games in which he's played at least 12 minutes. But he's also had six contests that he hasn't appeared in at all.

Yet McCallum brings value because head coach Michael Malone sometimes calls on him for his defense or to provide a spark. 

"Ray McCallum is one of our best perimeter defenders," said Malone earlier in the season. "I feel very comfortable and confident when he has the ball in his hands, so all-day Ray, he stays ready. All the guys on the team really respect how hard he works, he never gets down and he takes advantage of all his opportunities."

10. Reggie Evans

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Reggie Evans hasn't played a ton, but he's played well when Michael Malone has called on him.

Reggie Evans doesn't usually provide a ton in terms of offensive production, but the power forward always brings energy and aggressively attacks the glass. 

His 14.5 rebounds per 36 minutes are tops on the team (excluding Moreland, whose two-minute sample size skews things). The same can be said of Evans' 5.5 offensive boards per 36 minutes.

Evans also hasn't appeared in seven games due to a coach's decision. But being the professional he is, the veteran is always ready.

Take a Nov. 30 game against the Memphis Grizzlies as an example. Evans hadn't appeared in the seven previous contests, but he was ready to play in a game in which DeMarcus Cousins was out and backup enter Ryan Hollins was ejected following his second technical. The 34-year-old scored 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and hauled in 20 rebounds in 36 minutes of action.

9. Ramon Sessions

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Ramon Sessions has had a slow start.

There's a good chance Ramon Sessions finishes the season higher on the power rankings. We know he can play better than he has thus far. However, there's no getting around his struggles.

Sessions has played in 17 of the team's 18 games, averaging 17.8 minutes, 6.1 points, 2.2 assists and 1.5 rebounds. On the surface, those numbers don't look too bad. But dig a little bit deeper, and you'll see where Sessions is lacking.

For one, he's only shooting 34.4 percent from the field. The guard also isn't taking care of the ball, as his turnover percentage (19.6) resembles his assist percentage (19.9). That lends itself to his 8.6 player efficiency rating and minus-0.2 offensive win shares. 

There may be players ahead of him who are playing worse—in fact, next one is. But those guys don't have the same track record of success that Sessions has: a career PER of 16.5, field-goal percentage of .437, assist percentage of 30.4 and turnover percentage of 15.0.

8. Nik Stauskas

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Nik Stauskas hasn't been able to find his stroke.

Nik Stauskas may be playing worse than Sessions, but Stauskas is also a rookie. He's expected to go through some growing pains. Plus, he doesn't have a track record to compare to. 

Stauskas hasn't done much with any consistency. His .322 field-goal percentage and .237 three-point percentage show how much he's struggling shooting. Considering that was his calling card entering the draft, it is somewhat disappointing.

But the rookie has shown flashes of his potential. In a win over the Pelicans on Nov. 25, Stauskas scored nine points on 4-of-6 shooting and hauled in three rebounds in 23:50 of action. He had a similar nine-point, three-rebound effort against the Phoenix Suns on Nov. 7.

He's going to continue to have some clunkers in there. The important thing for Stauskas is to keep shooting. That's why the Kings drafted him. He may be struggling to find his stroke, but the 21-year-old can't let that deter him from firing away. 

7. Jason Thompson

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Jason Thompson has had some solid performances on defense, but he's struggled shooting the ball.

Despite starting all 18 games, Jason Thompson is currently behind two players who frequently come in to relieve him. 

Mainly, Thompson has struggled to get anything going on offense. Granted, the Kings don't ask him to score much, but it's still hard to ignore a 37.3 field-goal percentage from a power forward who spends most of his time near the hoop. 

He has still done a solid job on the boards, averaging 6.0 rebounds. He's also had impact performances on the defensive end, when the power forward held New Orleans' Anthony Davis to 14 points on 4-of-12 shooting on Nov. 25. 

According to 82games.com, he's also holding opposing power forwards to a PER of 14.2. 

The Kings will take that defensive production from Thompson. But the power forward needs to improve his shooting percentage. 

6. Omri Casspi

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Omri Casspi has played better than the Kings could have hoped.

Omri Casspi has been a revelation for the Kings. We knew he would provide energy off the bench, but he's also supplied the team with plenty of production as well.

Casspi is averaging 8.6 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 19.1 minutes of action. What really sticks out, though, is his efficiency. The 26-year-old has managed 54.7 percent shooting from the field. Coming into the year, his career high was 44.6 percent.

As Akis Yerocostas pointed out on SacTown Royalty, Casspi's success is due to his aggressiveness in attacking the basket:

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He's shooting 79.2% from 0-3 feet per basketball-reference.com.  Casspi hasn't had many issues in finishing despite tough coverage either; According to NBA.com, Casspi is shooting 58.8% when a defender is within 0-2 feet (which has happened 34.7% of time) and 50% when a defender is within 2-4 feet (36.7% of the time).  That means most of his scoring is coming despite tight coverage, which also leads to a big increase in free throw attempts.  Casspi has a career FTA per 36 minutes of just 3.0 a game, and this year that number has jumped all the way to 6.4, or more than double.

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That's not too bad for a player who was brought in to fill out the bench. Instead, Casspi has been a mainstay in the rotation. 

5. Carl Landry

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Having Carl Landry back has been a huge boost.

One could make an argument for Carl Landry to be one spot higher, but he comes in at No. 5 for multiple reasons.

For one, despite being good enough to start, Landry isn't a starter. So while he's productive when on the court, he doesn't have as much playing time as the players ahead of him. Beyond that, his inside presence helps the Kings, but they have other players who are impacting the game in similar ways.

Landry is second among the reserve players in scoring (8.1 points per game). He also hauls down 4.2 rebounds per night and is one of four Kings players with a field-goal percentage above 50 percent.

The team also performs best when he's on the court, compared to the other reserves. Sacramento is minus-5.1 points per 100 possessions with Landry in the game. The next closest backup is Reggie Evans, with the team having a minus-9.5 rating with him on the court. 

4. Ben McLemore

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Ben McLemore's taken a big step forward in his second season.

If you had told me at the beginning of the season that Ben McLemore would be the Kings' fourth-best player through the first six weeks, I wouldn't have believed you. But it's true—the 21-year-old has been that good. 

McLemore's numbers of 11.7 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game are impressive in their own right considering his struggles as a rookie. Yet what's stood out most is his efficiency. He is making 47.3 percent of his field goals and 40 percent of his three-pointers. This is from a guy who shot 37.6 percent from the field and 32 percent from downtown as a rookie.

Even crazier is McLemore's play of late. Since Nov. 5, he's averaging 13.9 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 assists on 50 percent shooting from the field and 41.4 percent from three-point range. Over his past seven games, his scoring has jumped to 15.7 points, and he is shooting .518 from the field and .429 from three. 

If his play continues at a similar rate, it would give the Kings another consistent scorer beyond DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Darren Collison. That's saying something considering how much McLemore struggled as a rookie. 

3. Darren Collison

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Darren Collison has looked like an upgrade at point guard so far.

Darren Collison has been the point guard the Kings were lacking. While his numbers may not match up to what Isaiah Thomas did last season, his ability to run the offense and play defense is a better fit for Sacramento than Thomas was. 

That isn't to say Collison's numbers are bad either. He's averaging 15.1 points, 6.5 assists and 1.7 steals per game. But his true impact is measured by how the team performs with and without him on the court.

With him in the game, the Kings have an offensive rating of 109.4 and a defensive rating of 99.3. Without Collison, the offense dips to 100.6 points per 100 possessions, and the defensive rating skyrockets to 114.0.

The point guard is also doing a good job in his individual matchups. According to 82games.com, he's posting a 21.1 PER, while the opposing point guard is posting 15.2.

One could probably even make the argument that Collison has been the team's second-best player, especially considering he's had to pick up the slack for what Sessions was expected to supply. However, this next guy has a slight edge.

2. Rudy Gay

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Rudy Gay has kept up his efficient play from a year ago.

Gay has kept up his solid play ever since the Kings traded for him a year ago. The player who was an inefficient chucker in Toronto has become a methodical scorer in Sacramento. 

He is still averaging more than 20 points per game, at 21.1. He's also making 46 percent of his field goals and 34 percent of his three-point attempts. But Gay did all of those things last year. While they're good accomplishments, he has improved his game in other areas.

Most notably, Gay has become a more willing passer this season. His 4.4 assists per game are far and away the best of his career. He even set a career high in assists on Dec. 2, logging 10 in a loss against the Toronto Raptors. 

Furthermore, his 1.9 win shares are second-most on the team. That's partially due to Collison missing an extra game than Gay, but even Gay's win shares per 48 minutes (.152; .151) are slightly better than the point guard's. 

1. DeMarcus Cousins

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Sacramento has been a different team when Cousins is on the floor.

Cousins has been Sacramento's best player this season. There's no doubting that. 

His scoring, rebounding, win shares, win shares per 48 minutes and PER are all tops on the team. Perhaps a better argument is the way the team performs without him. 

With Cousins in the game, Sacramento is 11.1 points per 100 possessions better than the opposition. When the big man sits, the Kings are 14.7 points per 100 possessions worse than their opponent. That's a 25.8-point swing. 

Not to mention, Cousins has sat out the past three games. Not surprisingly, the Kings are 0-3 in those contests. They're also 0-14 over the past two seasons when he doesn't play. 

That Cousins is the Kings' most valuable player is academic. The real debate is whether he's the most valuable player in the league. Of course, that's not to say Cousins will win the award, because he won't. But he may mean more to the Kings than any other player means to his respective team.

Unless noted otherwise, all quotes obtained firsthand and all stats via Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.

What do you think of the rankings? Let me know on Twitter @SimRisso