It is hard to find a team in the Western Conference that made as many changes in the offseason as the Sacramento Kings. Yes, you could make the case that the Portland Trail Blazers underwent an even bigger overhaul, but that team is in a rebuilding mode, whereas the Kings are trying to crack the league’s elite.
Will they be successful after a 2014-2015 season that produced just 29 wins along with two head coaching changes?
Hey, that’s why they play 82 games.
A look at the new (and improved?) Kings:
CULTURE SHOCK:
It appears the culture of the Kings locker room has changed with the free agent signings of winning players. This offseason, Sacramento brought in 5 players that have 254 games of playoff experience!
Most Playoff Experience
Active Kings Roster
Games
Rajon Rondo 94
Caron Butler 65
Marco Belinelli 48
Kosta Koufos 37
Darren Collison 29
James Anderson 10
Rudy Gay 7
THE RONDO FACTOR:
The Kings signed 4-time All-Star Rajon Rondo this offseason. Rondo will be a major defensive upgrade at point guard. He was one of the top defensive point guards in the NBA last season after his trade to the Mavericks.
Top Defensive Point Guards
Last Season
Points Per Play Allowed FG pct Allowed
Ricky Rubio .74 35.5%
Cory Joseph .74 36.0%
Jason Terry .75 35.2%
Rajon Rondo .76 38.2%
>min. 250 plays defended
IN PASSING:
Among all active players, only Chris Paul (46.6%) has a higher career assist percentage than Rajon Rondo’s 41.1%. But let’s take it one step further. In NBA history, only three players have a higher career assist percentage. Rondo has had 5 seasons in his career with an assist percentage higher than 40%, while no player in Kings franchise has had one.
Highest Career Assist Percentage
NBA History
Assist Percentage
John Stockton 50.2%
Chris Paul 46.6%
Steve Nash 41.5%
Rajon Rondo 41.1%
Magic Johnson 40.9%
NEW LONG-DISTANCE SERVICE PROVIDER:
The Kings signed sharpshooter Marco Belinelli in the offseason. He brings a championship pedigree (won title with 2013-14 Spurs) and a sweet shooting stroke. Belinelli will space the floor as 48.9% of his field goal attempts last season were three-pointers. Over the last 5 seasons, he is among the best three-point shooters in the league.
500 Made 3-PT FG and 39% 3-PT FG pct
Last 5 NBA Seasons
Kyle Korver JJ Redick
Stephen Curry Mike Dunleavy
Danny Green Wesley Matthews
Ray Allen Marco Belinelli
Klay Thompson
AN EXPERIENCED MAN:
Caron Butler is a 2-time All-Star. He’s a defensive wizard, bringing 7 years of playoff experience with 5 NBA teams. His value of having been there and done that cannot be understated.
Players With All-Star Experience
On Current Kings Roster
All-Star Selections
Rajon Rondo 4
Caron Butler 2
DeMarcus Cousins 1
REINFORCING THE BACK LINE:
The Kings signed Kosta Koufos this offseason in a very underrated move. Koufos was an excellent backup last season for the Grizzlies, particularly on the defensive end of the court. Among bigs with fewer than 10 starts, Koufos ranked among the leaders in defensive win shares. In other words, he’s a really valuable backup big man.
Most Defensive Win Shares
Bigs With Fewer Than 10 Starts; Last Season
Def. Win Shares
Nikola Mirotic 2.7
Kosta Koufos 2.5
Ian Mahinmi 2.0
BUILDING ON CAREER BESTS:
Omri Casspi re-signed with the Kings and hopes to build on a tremendous 2014-15 season. He established career-highs in efficiency, effective field goal percentage and assist percentage.
Omri Casspi
Last Season
PER 14.4
Effective FG pct 53.0%
Assist Percentage 11.8%
>career highs
GETTING VERY DEFENSIVE:
The Kings ranked 27th in the NBA in defensive efficiency last season. Then Sacramento drafted defensive wizard Willie Cauley-Stein with the 6th overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Cauley-Stein won the NABC Defensive Player of the Year award last season at Kentucky, becoming the second Wildcat to win the award (Anthony Davis). Advanced metrics support Cauley-Stein as the premier defensive player in the country.
Willie Cauley-Stein
2014-15 season at Kentucky
NCAA Rank
Defensive Win Shares 3.4 1st
Defensive Rating 80.0 2nd
Defensive Box Score Plus/Minus 10.0 5th
>won NABC Defensive Player of the Year award
THE CURRY BROTHERS:
There were 11 sets of brothers that played in the NBA in 2014-15. That includes Warriors guard Stephen Curry and his brother Seth, who played 2 games for the Suns last season.
A DUKE BECOMES A KING:
Seth Curry will become the 8th player from Duke to play for the Kings. With varying degrees of success, the pipeline from Duke to the NBA is strong. Last season, 20 different Duke players played in the league.
A Duke Becomes A King
Kings Player From Duke; NBA History
Games w/Kings
1993-98 Bobby Hurley 242
2007-09 Shelden Williams 58
1981-83 Kenny Dennard 52
1994-95 Alaa Abdelnaby 51
2007-08 Dahntay Jones 25
1965-66 Art Heyman 11
1987-88 Martin Nessley 9
>Seth Curry: first season with Kings
THE RESUME LOOKS GOOD:
The Kings named Nancy Lieberman as an assistant coach this offseason. She becomes the second female assistant coach in the NBA (Becky Hammon, Spurs). Lieberman’s resume reads like a wish list as she has experience as a player, coach and general manager.
Nancy Lieberman’s Career Highlights
Olympic Silver Medalist (1976)
3-time All-American
2-time AIAW champion (Old Dominion – 1979 and 1980)
WNBA Player (2 seasons)
WNBA Head Coach (3 seasons)
D-League Head Coach (1 seasons)
D-League Asst General Manager (4 seasons)
Enshrined in Basketball Hall of Fame (1996)
Peter Newmann is an analyst and writer who spent 10 years at ESPN, 8 as the NBA senior researcher working 24/7 on the league. He wrote game notes for crews, articles for ESPN.com, analysis for studio shows, and regularly assisted reporters and writers. Follow him on Twitter, and check out his Web site, www.peternewmann.com.