One Area of Improvement for each Kings player: Centers

Aug 30, 2024, 7:02 AM | Updated: 7:05 am

MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 31: Domantas Sabonis #10 of the Sacramento Kings shoots a free throw again...

Domantas Sabonis #10 of the Sacramento Kings shoots a free throw against the Miami Heat during the second quarter at Kaseya Center on January 31, 2024 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

(Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)

BY BRENDEN NUNES

Sactown Sports writer

External improvement via trades, free agency, and the draft often steal the headlines during an NBA offseason. Because of that, internal improvements can often be overlooked but are just as vital to a team’s progress and development.

Regardless of age, NBA players always aim to improve individually from one season to the next. The Sacramento Kings have just two players in their thirties and plenty of players who could take notable strides heading into the 2023-24 season.

This exercise is divided into three pieces by position — not including rookies or two-way players. To start, I struggle to differentiate positions in today’s NBA. As head coach Mike Brown says, in Sacramento, positions one through four are interchangeable—it’s just about being able to match up defensively with the opposition.

That was seen throughout the seasons with lineups where Keegan Murray is at the typical shooting guard spot and other moments where Kevin Huerter is the second-tallest player on the floor.

So, forgive me if some of the positional definitions for these players seem a bit funky. They’re a somewhat unnecessary title in the modern NBA, particularly with the Kings.

That being said, I separated the players into guards, wings/forwards, and centers.

Here is one area of improvement going into 2024-25 for each of Sacramento’s centers:

Domantas Sabonis (28 years old): Free Throw Shooting

Sabonis does everything on the court, functioning as the offensive hub of Sacramento’s offense thanks to his elite playmaking skills while simultaneously pulling down the most rebounds per game (13.7) in the NBA for the second consecutive season.

While many would point to his shooting as an ideal area of improvement, I have less faith. That was the thought headed into 2023-24 after the Warriors dared him to take jumpers in the postseason, but little growth was season last season, so it felt unreasonable to choose that as the target moving forward.

Instead, it’s his conversion rate from the free-throw line, where he knocked down 70.4 percent of his looks, the second-lowest percentage of his career, only trailing his rookie season with the Thunder.

The Kings ended last season dead last in free-throw percentage (74.5 percent), and of players who attempted at least one per game, only Trey Lyles (70.0 percent) and JaVale McGee (57.8) converted at a lower rate than Sabonis.

Of all players who attempted five or more free throws per game, only Zion Williamson, Alperen Sengun, and Rudy Gobert trailed Sacramento’s big man. Of the 26 games where Sabonis shot under 60 percent from the charity stripe, the Kings lost four by less than five points.

Winning five more games would have had Sacramento in the fifth or sixth seed in the Western Conference, outside of the play-in.

Knocking down those looks is crucial to his physical around-the-basket style of play.

Alex Len (31 years old): Limiting fouls

Len and DeRozan are the only two players on Sacramento’s roster who are 30 or older. The seven-footer produced in a limited role last season, enough so that the Kings re-signed him to a one-year veteran minimum ($ 3.3 million) over the offseason.

He sets hard screens, rolls to the basket forcefully, and is a rim deterrent. But sometimes, his movements can be slightly out of control and premature, leading to an average of 5.4 fouls per 36 minutes.

In March, against the Lakers, Len tallied four fouls in under ten minutes of play. This was the most extreme of eight examples of him recording three or more fouls in under 12 minutes.

Teams can then quickly find themselves in the bonus, and this is a mistake you don’t want to see from a limited-minute backup center.

Orlando Robinson (24 years old): Consistency

The Kings added 6’10 Robinson to a one-year $2.1-million deal via free agency this offseason, with $500,000 guaranteed. He will likely fill the JaVale McGee role as another option for Coach Brown behind Sabonis.

In two seasons with the Heat (and their G-League program), he showed flashes of rim protection and encouraging moments of spacing the floor. Robinson knocked down six of his sixteen three-point attempts in nine G-League games last season.

At this point in his career, it’s about finding something he can consistently provide to a team. Is it rim protection? Is it spacing the floor from the center position? The Kings hope to find a more straightforward answer in 2023-24.

When is the next Sacramento Kings offseason date of interest?

Now that we know when the Kings will suit up for their season-opener, we can look forward to October 24th, when the Beam Team will face the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Training camps will begin at the end of September, meaning general manager Monte McNair could still make a move or two — potentially including signing some of the above NBA free agents — to round out Sacramento before players report to Golden 1 Center.

Be sure to stay locked into Sactown Sports for all of your Sacramento Kings news on player signings, trades, game recaps, and more for the upcoming season.