May 3, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Memphis Grizzlies forward Jeff Green (32, left), forward Tony Allen (9, center), and center Kosta Koufos (41, right) reach for a rebound during the second quarter in game one of the second round of the NBA Playoffs against the Golden State Warriors at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Grizzlies 101-86. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Kosta Koufos
Strengths: Interior scoring, rebounding, defense, being a steady backup presence
Koufos isn’t exactly a dynamic scorer and passer, but being a seven-footer means he’s going to be able to simply overpower a lot of other smaller bigs in the paint. His defense is really strong, considering he hasn’t had a defensive rating worse than 103 since 2011.
Finally, Koufos is a guy who knows his role. He backed up Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol in Memphis and will now relieve Willie Trill Cauley-Stein and Boogie. The fact that he signed with the Kings means he knows that he’s best suited to be a third bench big, which he is great at being. He definitely shouldn’t cause any chemistry problems.
Weaknesses: Passing, floor spacing, hairline
Koufos isn’t a gifted passer, seeing as he’s never managed to average more than 0.5 assists per game in his career. He also doesn’t space the floor, which is also portrayed bluntly by the statistics: Koufos has taken just three three-point shots in his 6477 NBA minutes, and he missed all three of them.
Finally, Koufos has serious hairline problems. He makes LeBron look like Frobe. It’s bad. At least he’s a great backup big man. He may want to invest in headband, though.
Koufos’ Role on the Kings: Like I said earlier, Koufos is going to be the first big off of the bench for Sacramento. He’s never played more than 22 minutes per game, even when he started all season for the Denver Nuggets in 2013. Koufos was born to be a backup big, and so far he’s done a great job of it.
Career Statistics:
| Season | Tm | G | GS | MP | FGA | FG% | eFG% | FTA | FT% | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008-09 | UTA | 48 | 7 | 11.8 | 3.9 | .508 | .508 | 1.1 | .706 | 2.9 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 4.7 |
| 2009-10 | UTA | 36 | 0 | 4.8 | 1.3 | .468 | .468 | 0.4 | .600 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| 2010-11 | TOT | 50 | 2 | 8.7 | 3.0 | .453 | .453 | 0.9 | .558 | 2.6 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 3.2 |
| 2011-12 | DEN | 48 | 24 | 16.5 | 4.0 | .599 | .599 | 1.1 | .600 | 5.4 | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 5.5 |
| 2012-13 | DEN | 81 | 81 | 22.4 | 6.3 | .581 | .581 | 1.3 | .558 | 6.9 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 3.0 | 8.0 |
| 2013-14 | MEM | 80 | 22 | 16.9 | 5.7 | .495 | .495 | 1.2 | .645 | 5.2 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 2.3 | 6.4 |
| 2014-15 | MEM | 81 | 3 | 16.6 | 4.4 | .508 | .508 | 1.0 | .647 | 5.3 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 1.8 | 5.2 |
| Career | 424 | 139 | 15.3 | 4.5 | .528 | .528 | 1.1 | .617 | 4.7 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 2.0 | 5.4 |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/7/2015.
Highlights:
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