There isn’t even any grass over here

Sorry I missed posting on actual Monday, other life and work stuff got in the way but we’re back to our regularly scheduled weekly post covering all things Kings.  At least, I assume it’s been another week, since the sun hasn’t shown up in Sacramento in about three weeks and every day just looks the same.

The worst offense in the NBA

I didn’t think the Kings were going to be good this season but I am a bit shocked to see us have the worst offense in the entire NBA.  Even last season, with many of the same pieces, the Kings were 7th in offensive rating.  This year, they’re just atrocious. Now, there have been a lot of injuries, but there really doesn’t seem to be much of a semblance of a cohesive plan out there each night.  This is a team that doesn’t shoot three pointers (fewest makes and second fewest attempts), is not very good at two pointers (3rd worst percentage) and also isn’t great at the line (25th in attempts and 27th in percentage).  Combined with one of the worst defenses in the league (4th worst only somehow) and you have one of the very worst teams in the NBA.  Yes, this is a very flawed roster, but Doug Christie hasn’t been able to figure out how to make a workable offense despite having some very good scorers on this team.  Last year, he managed to keep the team together but was relying on Mike Brown’s old coaching staff.  This year it’s an entirely new staff and nothing is working.  This team is miserable to watch, and it looks like they’re miserable when they’re out there.  That’s the biggest indictment of Christie as full time head coach so far.

Trades can’t come soon enough

Now that we are past December 15th, the trade market should heat up, although we might have to wait until January 15th and/or the Giannis situation to be resolved before any drastic moves are made.  This team needs a shakeup, even if just to clear out some playing time for these young guys.  Devin Carter finally got some burn against the Nuggets and played pretty well, scoring 15 points with 4 assists in 21 minutes off the bench, only to not even see the floor the next game against Minnesota.  In a lost season like this, the young guys should be getting as much time as possible if only to see what we have. Yes, they will stumble and fall and look awful at times, but this team already looks terrible even when they don’t play so what’s the point?  This team just feels like a bunch of mercenaries biding their time until they’re somewhere else and it’s hard to get excited about games knowing that’s what you’re going to see.

Keegan Murray, rim protector

One nice development so far this season has been Keegan Murray’s growth as a shot blocker. After tallying five against the Timberwolves, he’s now averaging 1.7 blocks a game.  The Kings haven’t had someone average that many blocks a game since DeMarcus Cousins in the 2014-15 season.  Now, Murray’s only played 11 games so far this season so there is a bit of a small sample size going on, but he has shown good blocking instincts throughout his career and in college.  Murray unfortunately is stuck on this squad where the little things he does aren’t enough to overcome the overall talent deficiency.  I still remain hopeful that we can see Murray become an offensive force like he was at Indiana, but he does need to be more assertive and likely needs some other guys traded for those opportunities to open up, but he really might just be a force multiplier for an already good team instead of someone that makes a team good themselves.

The NBA Cup of our nightmares

The NBA Cup Finals are here and it’s a realistic look at a potential NBA Finals in the near future with the San Antonio Spurs and De’Aaron Fox taking on Mike Brown’s New York Knicks, just one year after both departed the Kings.  Both teams are 18-7, with the Knicks second in the East and the Spurs tied for 3rd in the West, but also having done so while missing Victor Wembanyama for some time.  The Spurs won a thriller to overcome the Thunder to get to the Finals, and De’Aaron Fox was a huge part of that.  Fox is finally healthy again and is putting up 23.9 points, 6.2 assists while shooting a career-best 39.1% from three.  Even Harrison Barnes has been a key piece for this Spurs team, being his usual efficient self as a starting forward.  On the one hand, it’s nice to see guys you enjoyed watching over the years doing well, but on the other it’s just depressing to think they could have just been doing that here if this was a normal organization that didn’t manage to ruin almost everything it touches.  Fox recently said in an interview that the “grass is greener on this side” and he couldn’t be more right. It was a bit insensitive to be sure, but it’s hard to blame him for being happy that he doesn’t have to deal with this franchise anymore.  Mike Brown was a bit more diplomatic, but I’m sure he’s also thrilled to now be leading a contender and not searching for answers because the team has 9 shooting guards.  We’ve seen this time and time again over the years, from Mike Malone to Tyrese Haliburton, and now with Brown and Fox.  The Kings are the NBA’s version of purgatory, so when someone gets out, it’s no surprise when they thrive.

The Clippers are annoying

Why are they so bad? Why do they continue to plague my Tankathon simulations and give the Thunder an inordinate amount of chance at winning the lottery? Win some damn games already you old farts and leave us in peace. Trade for DeMar DeRozan and get a scoring punch.  Stop hanging around in the cellar with us.  Those four games we still have yet to play against them are going to be so important to lose.

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Upcoming Schedule:

• Thursday, December 18th at Portland Trail Blazers
• Saturday, December 20th vs. Portland Trail Blazers
• Sunday, December 21st vs. Houston Rockets