Garrett Temple: The Man with No Position or Three?
By Tyler Watts
Garrett Temple joined the Sacramento Kings this offseason and has brought some great versatility with him. This article examines his stint in Sacramento so far and what to expect from him this season.
Early in the offseason the Kings targeted and signed Garrett Temple to a contract for 3 years and $24 million. I wrote an in-depth article about if Garrett Temple was worth the contract here. Feel free to read my entire take, but I deduced that he would bring necessary leadership with his on-court play making the contract worthwhile for the Kings.
Below is his highlight video from last season with the Washington Wizards, so you can get a glimpse into his on-court game.
I believe I underestimated his production. The traditional stats do not jump off the screen and the advanced metrics look stronger, but not explosive, but this guy is a great glue piece for any team. I believe he will be more valuable to the team than the twenty-four million dollars he receives.
Big Hit with the Team
Garrett Temple has been an instant hit in the locker room. He is bringing the leadership and veteran presence that we expected. Temple seems to be a great fit for Coach Joerger’s systems. He plays great defense (Coach Joerger’s number one priority so far) and can play multiple positions on the court. He seems like a hand and glove fit on the Kings.
DeMarcus Cousins had this to say about Garrett Temple courtesy of Jason Jones at the Sacramento Bee. “I don’t even give Garrett a position. He’s just a hard-nosed worker. Anything you ask him to do, he’s going to do it. He’s doing the dirty work. He’s doing whatever is needed for the team and you can’t help but to appreciate guys like that”
Players like Garrett Temple are often underrated. The stats aren’t beautiful and very few people hear the player leading others on the court or motivating teammates. Garrett Temple is bringing the ability to do a job for the Kings and do it well and that allows other players to collect the stats, points, and ultimately team wins.
Preseason Production
Let us now examine what Temple has done through two preseason games on the court. I will couch this with saying it is preseason and with a new coach and a plethora of new teammates things are going to be a little slow moving for the entire Kings team early on. It is a new offensive system, a completely newfound focus on defense, and just a lot of changes. Below is what Temple produced in each game.
In the preseason opener against the Lakers, Temple produced an up and down stat line. He played 24 minutes and produced 8 points on 3 of 10 shooting from the field and 1 of 2 from the charity stripe. He connected on 1 of 4 three-pointers and chipped in 2 rebounds and a steal. It got very ugly though with 3 turnovers, 2 personal fouls and an astonishingly bad negative 40 plus/minus. It was not all bad though as he played three different positions and showed a willingness to play with and help the Kings young players expand their games.
A new night against the Golden State Warriors brought out the type of stat line I think we could see frequently this season. Temple played 21 minutes scoring 13 points on 5 of 12 from the field and 3 of 4 on three-pointers. He chipped in 5 rebounds, 5 assists, a personal foul, and a positive 8 plus/minus. All box score stats courtesy of ESPN. That is a pretty impressive across the board stat line for Mister Temple.