Sacramento Kings: Biggest Surprises and Disappointments so Far This Season
The early portion of the season has been nothing if not eventful for the Sacramento Kings.
Some of the happenings have been good, such as an improved team and the emergence of a key player. Yet a few of the occurrences have been disappointing, such as a major shakeup to the Kings' coaching staff and the lack of depth.
But which of these events will most shape the team going forward? Those are the ones at which we're taking an extensive look. With that said, here are the Sacramento Kings' biggest surprises and disappointments so far this season.
Disappointment: The Decision to Fire Head Coach Michael Malone
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Admittedly, this one should probably go under "surprises." After all, nobody envisioned the Kings firing head coach Michael Malone so early in the season, especially after the team looked to be heading in the right direction.
Yet while the decision to jettison the coach was surely surprising, it was even more disappointing.
The Kings were 11-13 with Malone at the helm this season. That alone would've been an accomplishment—regardless of circumstance. The .458 winning percentage the team was posting was on pace to be its best since the 2007-08 campaign.
What made the decision to get rid of Malone even more puzzling was the Kings had been missing their best player, DeMarcus Cousins, for the previous nine games, going 2-7 in that span. With Cousins in the lineup, Malone and the Kings were 9-5.
Yet the most disappointing thing of all was that getting rid of Malone had nothing to do with the team's performance. General manager Pete D'Alessandro cited "philosophical differences" as the reason behind the firing.
"It wasn’t about wins and losses," D'Alessandro said, per Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. "I didn’t really care about what our record was. It’s about who we want to be, what we want our identity to be as a team."
As D'Alessandro elaborated, the philosophy he had issue with was the team's offensive identity, most notably its reluctance to push the pace.
Any time a team has to switch coaches a quarter of the way through the season, it's a disappointment—but this was incredibly puzzling.
If D'Alessandro's issues with Malone were related to his coaching philosophy, then he should have just fired him in the offseason. The decision could've been justified pretty easily considering the Kings were 28-54 the year prior to taking over and posted the same 28-win season in Malone's first season on the job.
Plus, it's not like Malone's "philosophy" had materially changed from last season to this season. The Kings averaged 96.75 possessions per 48 minutes in 2013-14 and 95.7 this season prior to Malone's ouster. Sacramento wasn't using a new philosophy; it was just more effective than it had been before.
Now well over a week from the decision to fire Malone, it still isn't any easier to wrap my mind around it.
The easiest way to characterize it would be as a shocking disappointment.
Surprise: The Team's Performance
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The Kings are 12-16 overall, but they're 10-7 when Cousins is in the lineup. Nobody with any objectivity saw that coming.
To provide some context, I predicted Sacramento to go 31-51 this season, while Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal had them going 26-56 and Josh Martin picked them to go 30-52. Not to mention, ESPN's Forecast Panel had the team slated for a 29-53 season.
The Kings are currently 18th in net rating at minus-1.5 points per 100 possessions. That number jumps considerably—to plus-11.3—when Cousins is on the court. Over the course of the season, that would give Sacramento the best net rating of any team (Golden State currently leads at plus-11.1).
That isn't to say the Kings are one of the best teams even when Cousins is on the court, but they're certainly not one of the worst.
That's an accomplishment, and it's one not many people saw coming.
Disappointment: Nik Stauskas' Shooting
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The Kings drafted Nik Stauskas because of his offensive ability. His long-range shooting would help what had been a weakness for the team.
After all, Sacramento was tied for 27th in three-point percentage in 2013-14, hitting only 33.3 percent of its attempts. Stauskas, on the other hand, was coming off a season in which he made 44.2 percent of his threes while averaging 5.7 tries per game for the University of Michigan.
Yet it hasn't worked out as well as the Kings hoped.
For one, Stauskas has looked timid at times. Even when shots are there, he doesn't always take them. And when he does, his attempts aren't falling.
He's only made 24.6 percent of his three-pointers this year. That's a disappointment compared to the expectations. As a rookie, it's hard to expect Stauskas to be an all-around player, but knocking down open three-pointers wouldn't be asking too much.
Of course, it should be noted that just because the shots aren't falling now, it doesn't mean it'll always be that way. We bring this up because our next surprise is a perfect example of how quickly things can change.
Surprise: Ben McLemore's Good Start
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Ben McLemore is a cautionary tale of why you can't write off a player after a bad rookie year. And let's not beat around the bush—the shooting guard was bad in 2013-14.
He only made 37.6 percent of his field goals and 32 percent of his three-pointers en route to averaging 8.8 points. While his scoring has only increased incrementally—to 12.4 per game—his shooting percentages have skyrocketed.
McLemore is now making 48.6 percent of his field goals and 40 percent of his three-pointers. That's helped him increase his offensive rating from 97 to 108.
One thing to like is McLemore letting the game come to him. Despite being more efficient with his shots, he's actually taking fewer of them (15.8 attempts per 100 possessions in '13-14; 14.8 in '14-15). But the looks he's getting are better, and he's knocking them down with more consistency.
Disappointment: The Lack of Depth
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A common trend for the Kings is they perform well when their starting five is on the court. However, due to a lack of depth, the output seriously dwindles when the starters go to the bench.
Case in point: Four of the team's five starters have a positive net rating when on the court. The only exception is Jason Thompson, who is minus-0.3 points per 100 possessions. Yet of the reserves, Eric Moreland is the only one who has a positive net rating, and the rookie has only logged two minutes all season.
Too often when the Kings turn to their bench, their lead dwindles or their deficit increases.
The ball stops moving on offense when Collison is out of the game, and there aren't any real options to consistently create for themselves.
It makes sense, too. Sacramento is 23rd in bench scoring at 29.9 points a game, according to HoopsStats.com, but its opponent's bench is averaging 34.6 points.
To provide more context, Sacramento's starters average 71.4, while the opposition's starters put up 68.0 points.
Surprise: The Team Hasn't Missed a Beat with Darren Collison as Point Guard
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Despite swapping out Isaiah Thomas for Darren Collison, the Kings haven't missed a beat. There was some question as to whether that would be the case.
After all, Thomas was coming off a career year, one in which he averaged 20.3 points and 6.3 assists. He was also second on the team in win shares and win shares per 48 minutes.
Collison, on the other hand, had never posted anything remotely close to those numbers. Even in his best year, Collison's 5.9 win shares considerably trailed Thomas' 7.7 from 2013-14.
Yet this was a case of the whole being better than the sum of its parts. In other words, Thomas might be the better individual player, but Collison is a more natural fit with the Kings.
Instead of looking to score or dribble the ball, Collison is more concerned with finding open teammates. If an open attempt is there, he'll take it, but he allows the opportunities to come to him rather than seek them out.
It's making for a more effective offense for the Kings, too. After posting an offensive rating of 102.9 in 2013-14, Sacramento is up to 103.7 this year.
The difference between the two is even bigger when factoring in each point guard.
With Collison on the court, Sacramento has an offensive rating of 107.2—with that figure dropping to 97.3 when he sits. While Thomas was on the court last season, the team posted 104.9 points per 100 possessions, and that number dropped to 99.3 as he was on the bench.
Unless noted otherwise, all stats are courtesy of NBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com and are accurate as of Dec. 24. What are your thoughts on the Kings so far? Let me know on Twitter @SimRisso.
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