Rival Scout Criticizes Sabonis and Kings Following Season’s End

Sacramento’s system was bashed by a rival team’s scout.

Apr 16, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis (10) reacts to call against the Golden State Warriors. / Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

In a disappointing ending for the Sacramento Kings, the team is looking forward to offseason moves after getting knocked out of playoff contention by the New Orleans Pelicans. It was only the second winning season in the last 15 years for Sacramento, but it didn’t result in a playoff appearance.

The abrupt ending comes as a disappointment to many players, including star point guard De’Aaron Fox. “We could’ve been a better team,” Fox said. “We could have had 51 wins or 52 wins and you're sitting in a different spot, but at the end of the day, we didn't.”

Fox alongside big man Domantas Sabonis still caused trouble for teams this year, with the latter shattering NBA records. Sabonis made history time and time again by recording the longest double-double streak since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976. Unfortunately, personal history doesn’t always correlate with team success, which was the case for Sacramento this season.

The only players in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding while averaging 8+ APG:

Domantas Sabonis (2024)
Wilt Chamberlain (1968) pic.twitter.com/szDbPGBsCg

— StatMamba (@StatMamba) April 15, 2024

Despite Saboinis averaging 19.4 points on 59.4% shooting while putting up career highs in rebounds and assists per game, the team wasn’t able to string together wins at the end of the season.

Talking to The Ringer, one rival team’s scout had some choice words to say about the Kings and their organization:

“I just don’t like the way they’re built. They’re running everything through [Sabonis] as if he was Jokic, but he’s not Jokic. He’s a hell of a player, but he can’t shoot, so he can’t really stretch the floor. It makes it a really static type of basketball.”

Obviously, a rival team is going to hold a bias against Sacramento. At the same time, there is some truth to their statement because the Kings could utilize a stretch big that is able to space out the floor to give more variety to the Kings’ offense. Otherwise, the game plan can get repetitive and teams catch on quickly to the pick-and-roll offense being run through the ball handler and Sabonis.

Sabonis put up his second-best three-point percentage in his career at 38%, but it didn’t mean much because he only averaged one attempt per game. Putting a jump shot back in his game could give some diversity to the team’s shot selection next season.

Sacramento will have ample time to make offseason moves, and a big man who can shoot could be near their top priorities. 

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