To kick off the second half of the 2014-15 season, we at A Royal Pain have decided to give out grades to each Sacramento player, and I will be covering the team’s point guards.
The only holdover from last season’s mix of 1’s is sophomore Ray McCallum. Veteran Darren Collison was brought in on a mid-level exception contract to replace fan favorite Isaiah Thomas as starter, and Ramon Sessions was brought in on a bi-annual exception to be the main backup.
Darren Collison: B+
Collison is averaging career highs in points, rebounds, and steals; and is close to his highs in assists, 3P% and FG%. Replacing Isaiah Thomas with Collison was initially unpopular with the fanbase and was lampooned by the national media. However, he has been one of the few bright spots on the team this season; bringing ball-movement, quality decision-making, shooting, and perimeter defense to a team that lacked in all of those areas last year.
Sacramento is a much better product with Darren on the floor than without him. He has exceeded most expectations, yet has struggled with his free throws in clutch situations. Thus, he receives a B+.
Ramon Sessions: F
Averaging career lows across the board and looking completely lost on the court, Sessions has been an absolute disaster this season in Sacramento. Whether its his 34% shooting from the field, whimsical-at-best defense, or mistake-laden quarterbacking, it’s very easy to “flunk” Sessions.
Luckily, he has just one more year on his deal after this season, and he could be somewhat valuable as an expiring contract. At the time, I actually liked his signing, given his past as a decent bench option that could play either guard position and attack the rim.
In the end, Sacramento could had used the Sessions of year’s past as a quality bench scorer and ball handler. But sadly, the 2014-15 Sessions has been a complete and utter failure: F!
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Ray McCallum: C-
“RayMac” has been one of the more disappointing players on this year’s roster, given his quality point guarding in late last season and his breakout Summer League performance.
I had high hopes for McCallum this year, and while Sessions was realistically going to eat away at his minutes, McCallum still had opportunities to grasp the 6th man position, especially with Sessions injured most of December.
McCallum has looked average at best, and seems to be a better fit as a shooting guard than point guard. While his field goal percentage has gone up from last season, everything else has pretty much stayed the same or gotten worse. I’m giving him a C- based off that.
Stay tuned tomorrow when we turn our attention to the Kings shooting guards.