Sacramento Kings Mailbag: What’s the best win of the season so far?

It’s time to open the mailbag!

Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Sactown Sports Kings‘ mailbag, where we’ll answer all your questions about the Sacramento Kings. Every week, we’ll rotate hosts to answer your questions.

Onto your questions:

Thanks for doing the mailbag. I love the content and appreciate all of the dedication from the Sactown sports family. Also, I am a Richaun Holmes fan and I am rooting for the guy. I just see the talent that could be used to better the Kings team, one way or another.

Mike Brown yelling out to Holmes more often, directing him on his defense and positioning on the court. Richaun can be a true piece on a lot of teams. Is his trade value decreasing as his minutes go down? Can Mike Brown or will Mike Brown find a way to get Holmes involved more on offense? From what you have seen do you think Holmes best chance to play is on the defensive end and if so can Holmes, being undersized, learn to defend without fouling? At the end of the day is Holmes more valuable as a King or on another team?

Wishing you a wonderful day!
James

Dave: Good question, James. A lot of us are wondering about Richaun Holmes, too. We love him and we love his family. And it just seems like he forgot how to play basketball over the course of a year. Not that long ago, that last season he was a great set centerpiece, part of the centerpiece, and somebody that was extended into a nice economical contract. Obviously, something’s going on. He had some off-court things last year, which it appears he’s overcome this year. Also had some injuries. But that doesn’t seem to be the problem this year. I don’t know why, but I don’t think he and [Domantas] Sabonis can play together, I think they occupy the same space. But I don’t know why when Sabonis is on the bench, Richaun can’t come in, be the five off the bench. And if he can play anywhere near the way he played two years ago, it’s one of the best bench bigs you got in the entire NBA. Something tells me it’s more than just basketball. There’s something deeply wrong with the Richaun Holmes situation. And I think the success of the Sacramento Kings has kind of covered that up a little bit. But I expect that to be solved one way or the other in the next couple of months.

With everything going on, is it fair to wonder if Keegan Murray should come off the bench? 

Thanks for taking my question,
Jackson W.

Jason: Fair probably, but if it’s not broken, you don’t have to fix it, I guess would be the standard answer. The Sacramento Kings are doing well. And here’s why it’s so great for Keegan because the Kings are doing well, they don’t need him to be great. They want him to be. They want him to be a nice complementary piece to what the team is doing. Still, in the end, if Keegan struggles Coach [Mike] Brown, will go to Terence Davis, Malik Monk, the bench that’s been so lethal. So the Kings are in a much better spot. And I think it’s also a good spot for Keegan, he doesn’t have to save this team, doesn’t have to save the franchise. They want him to be a big piece and a key piece. But I believe it just as it is. And he’ll figure this out.

De’Aaron Fox has shown flashes of this kind of play in the past. Can he sustain this level of play for a full season though? 

John D. via Twitter

Dave: I think De’Aaron actually if you look back to last year, De’Aaron came out of the box and stunk. And he’d be the first to tell you that. This is a fantastic start for him. It’s the best start of his career. Is it sustainable? I don’t know. And that’s a cop-out answer. What I will say is he’s never had a team that’s this good around him. He’s never had a big this good with him. And Domantas Sabonis really unlocks De’Aaron Fox, he takes some of the ball handling out of his hands, but not in a negative way, not in the way that he and Tyrese couldn’t function. That allows them to have two primary ball handlers and Sabonis really clears up a lot down low for De’Aaron.

When you look at Fox’s free throw percentage and when you look at his three-point percentage, at least now 20 games in when we’re recording this, it’s the best it’s ever been. So I don’t see why it’s not sustainable. Really, my big worry for De’Aaron, because of his style of play, is just simply injuries. It’s injuries with him staying not so banged up, he’s always going to have little nicks here and there. But if he can stay relatively healthy and the same thing with the Kings, they’ve been the healthiest team in the NBA by far through 20 games, if they can keep that up, and if De’Aaron can keep that up, I see no reason why you can’t put up these numbers all year long.

We’re 20 games into the Sacramento Kings season. What is the best team win of the year so far? 

Kevin L. via that Sactown Sports text line

Jason: Probably, Cleveland is what I’ll stick with for now. The greatest thing is the best one is still to come. They’re ahead. I think the way this season is going, they’ve had a lot of close calls against good teams that would have really elevated it certainly if they’d won in Boston, or if they had beaten Phoenix, but the Cleveland win I think really helped get things started. [They were] a quality opponent and not only that, but it was also the fact that I think there were some matchups that were not advantageous to the Kings and they handled that. They were a much smaller team than the Cavs, so to play in another team’s kind of wheelhouse and the Sacramento Kings still won, to me. I think the Cleveland game has been their most impressive team win based on the quality of the opponent. But I mean the emotional win against the Pacers was great. And then a certainly national TV, throttling the Nets was awesome. But as far as quality and opponent and maybe advantages or disadvantages for the Kings, it’s the Cavs for me.

Thank you for all the questions. Have a question? Text us at 916-339-1140 or email us at kingsmailbag@sactownsports.com.

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