Major Things To Watch For With The Sacramento Kings

Vlade Divac Sacramento Kings
Sacramento Kings Vice President Of Basketball Operations And General Manager Vlade Divac. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

The Sacramento Kings are coming into this 2018-2019 NBA season as an extremely young, and unready team. They have a few veteran leaders, but this team’s season will be predicated on their young core. Guys like De’Aaron Fox and Willie Cauley-Stein will be vital to give their fans signs of hope. This season is about progress and progress only. Will these players and their teammates show that they are a team to fear in the future? Now we have summer league to watch and here are a few things I have noticed about this team’s young talent.

Major Things To Watch For With The Sacramento Kings

Marvin Bagley Has Potential, But Should Not Start

Marvin Bagley was a talented player during his year at Duke University, but his ceiling as an NBA prospect varies. He was not an effective three-point shooter at Duke despite shooting 39%, but that was on a limited amount of shots. Can he duplicate that in Sacramento? I doubt it, but what he does well can be utilized during his rookie season.

Right now, he has been inconsistent and that is why he should not be rushed to be the savior of this team. His energy and ability to push the fast break is great but in small dosage. Bagley shows he can play, but his slight frame hurts and he has to add muscle to deal with the daily grind of the league. When the season starts, Bagley’s energy and athleticism will be what he should focus on early. Coming off the bench will allow him to focus on those things and bring along the other parts of his game.

Frank Mason Is Ready To Play More

Frank Mason is distributing the ball well in summer league play this year and is playing like a leader on the court. The former Naismith award winner had trouble last year finding playing time for this Kings team. It seems the Kings front office has faith in him being their backup. They have not tried to find another player or veteran to fill that role.

In summer league he has been distributing the ball very well. He is in the top 5 in assists heading into the knockout rounds of the tournament. His play will be needed because he creates a great balance between both starting guards: Fox and Bogdanovic. He is a better shooter than Fox and can help space the floor. When in with Bogdan Bogdanovic, he can help run the floor and be the settling force while Fox is out.

Harry Giles Is Their Best Rookie

I know people tend to hate the guys who sit out an entire season being called rookies, but Harry Giles is a rookie. He probably is the best rookie the Kings have and will be effective for them this season. Giles sat out the entire 2017-2018 season nursing a knee injury that began during his college career. In college he failed to show touch and the athleticism that made him the top recruit in his class. That time off helped him work on strengthening his lower body to take the daily punishment. It also helped by taking time for it to heal properly.

In college, Giles rushed back too soon because he knew he was gone after one season. That probably hurt his stock more because he was not the athlete that Coach K thought he was when he recruited him. The Kings knew what they were doing when they drafted him. They saw the potential in the 20th pick and knew that he needed time to heal. That took great understanding with a team who just needed bodies on the court. During summer league, he has played physical and has given the Kings hope. Which is all they wanted.

Conclusion

The Sacramento Kings have promise in the coming future. The players they have are fun and seem to want to turn the turmoils of this franchise around. The ability to be promising is crucial amongst teams who are rebuilding because the fans need a reason to cheer. The Sacramento fans have been tortured for the past decade and hopefully, Vlade Divac has found a building block amongst this array of talent.