Summer League Report Card: Frank Mason III

With summer league officially over for the Sacramento Kings, we here at A Royal Pain will give individual grades to the players on the team. This article will be analyzing Frank Mason III.

The Player

Prior to being drafted by the Sacramento Kings, Frank Mason was an elite player in his senior season of college. Due to his play, the former Kansas Jayhawk was named the top college basketball player during the 2016-2017 NCAA basketball season.

Despite achieving many accolades during his collegiate tenure, Mason was selected in the second round by the Kings. The skill level and production were there for Mason, but his height made NBA teams hesitant to draft him earlier.

This summer league, Mason had the chance to prove the doubters wrong. Let’s check out how he did.

Pros

What Mason did well in summer league was he shot efficiently from beyond the arc and from the free throw line as he recorded respectable clips of 50% and 100% from the areas. Showing that he has the ability to be a successful shooter at the NBA level.

What also was impressive about Mason was that he did a little bit of everything as the backup point guard. Averaging 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game, Mason showed that he can fulfill any type of role that the Kings put him in once the regular season is in play.

Lastly, Mason only averaged 1.3 turnovers a game, displaying his ability to keep the ball safe from defenders. A weakness the Kings had during their previous campaign.

Cons

Even though Mason shot well from the three-point line and free throw line, his overall field goal percentage was pretty low at 39.4%. This means that Mason had a success rate of 37% on his two-point attempts which is mediocre.

There is also the reason why Mason overall stats look solid. The former Jayhawk had an incredible performance against the Los Angeles Lakers which helped pad his numbers for summer league. Without that game, his stats would be a lot lower.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I thought Mason was a solid contributor for the Kings, especially when he was given significant playing time. Because Mason played behind De’Aaron Fox, Mason wasn’t given as much playing time on the court.

But as Kings fans saw, when Mason was given starter minutes, he performed like he did when he was leading the Kansas Jayhawks during the previous NCAA season.

The chances of Mason becoming an NBA star are steep, but his summer league season showed that he has the potential to be a valuable rotation player for an NBA team going forward. Hopefully, it’s with the Kings.