Kings Struggling to Find Offensive Production Off Bench

The Kings are bringing up the rear in key offensive bench stat rankings.

Dec 12, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Kevin Huerter (9) and center Isaac Jones (17) defend New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (3) during the first half at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Sacramento Kings are down bad, not only with their 13-17 record and12th spot in the Western Conference standings, but the general vibes all around Sacramento.

While things got off to a great start with Malik Monk joining the starting lineup, his move to join the starters has left two glaring holes on the Kings roster; bench scoring and bench facilitating.

The Kings bench is averaging the third fewest points per game with 25.5 per contest, and is last in the league with only 5.5 assists. The numbers both drop to 24.7 and 5.1 in the ten games since Monk made the switch to starter.

One of the things that made Monk so special off the bench was his ability to not only score, but also run and facilitate the offense. Few players in the league can do both off the bench, and now that he's starting, the Kings haven't been able to fill in the void that's been left.

Sacramento's roster is constructed with a thoughtful balance of offensive and defensive-minded players, but that puts pressure on the offensive players to be nearly perfect every game.

Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox have been as consistent as ever, but DeMar DeRozan, Keegan Murray, and Monk have all been up and down the last few games. If the starters aren't combining for at least 90 points, they put themselves in a difficult position on a nightly basis.

There's a list of moves that the Kings could make to improve and get their season back on track. Adding scoring off the bench may not be at the very top of the list, but bringing in someone who can consistently give you around ten points and a few assists would go a long way with this roster.

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