Introducing The Sacramento Kings Free Agency Additions

Ti Windisch

Jan 13, 2015; Sacramento, CA, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Rajon Rondo (9) drives to the basket against Sacramento Kings guard Ray McCallum (3) during the second quarter at Sleep Train Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports

Being a fan of the entire NBA is hard. I myself just started paying attention to the entire league just about six months ago, and it really is tough to keep up with everything that goes on outside of the team you follow. Hell, in a crazy offseason like the Sacramento Kings have been having it can be tough to just keep track of your own team!

Rajon Rondo

Strengths: Passing, running the offense, rebounding, defense, championship experience

Everybody knows this already, but Rajon Rondo has the potential to be one of the best distributors in the entire NBA. He knows how to run an offense, despite his ghastly stint in Dallas. It’s worth noting he led the entire NBA in assists in 2012 and 2013, and also led the league in steals in 2010.

It’s also important to note that Rondo, like Belinelli, has championship experience. That may seem inconsequential, but guys like Boogie Cousins and Ben McLemore can learn a lot from someone like Rondo.

Clearly he can be disruptive on defense and a maestro on offense, but Rondo can also rebound well for a point guard. Despite being just 6’1″ Rondo has totaled at least 5.5 rebounds in his last three seasons, which is significant for a guard. That’s a lot of good things that come with signing Rajon Rondo, so what’s not to like? Well..

Weaknesses: Shooting from all areas (field goal, three-point, free throw), scoring, team chemistry?

He’s a little offensively challenged, aside from his passing abilities. Rondo has a career three-point percentage of 26.3, although he did shoot 35 percent in Dallas. His free throw numbers were a disaster last season at under 40 percent, and his career average of just under 61 percent is pretty bad too.

As such, he’s never been a great scorer, as evidenced by only managing to break 13 points per game in two of his nine NBA seasons. The final knock on Rondo is his chemistry. The situation in Sactown is a little unstable right now, and it could get really ugly really fast if Rajon has problems with George Karl similar to the ones he had with Rick Carlisle.

Personally I am a little worried about this, but I also feel like Rondo realizes he needs to make the most out of his chance here in Sacramento. He may not get many more shots to be a starter if he explodes again, so I’d expect the ever-stubborn Rondo to be on his best behavior, at least initially, in Sacramento.

Rondo’s Role on the Kings: Definitely a starter. Rondo will get the opportunity to prove everyone wrong, or right, about his being over the hill in Sacramento. I doubt Darren Collison gets to be much more than a third guard on the Kings anymore, because there’s no way Vlade Divac paid Rondo $10 million to sit on the bench for most of the games. Maybe Collison plays some time at the two, but I doubt that too given the presence of Belinelli and McLemore.

Career Statistics:

Season	Tm	GS	MP	FGA	FG%	3PA	3P%	eFG%	FTA	FT%	TRB	AST	STL	TOV	PTS
2006-07	BOS	25	23.5	5.8	.418	0.4	.207	.424	2.4	.647	3.7	3.8	1.6	1.8	6.4
2007-08	BOS	77	29.9	9.3	.492	0.2	.263	.496	2.3	.611	4.2	5.1	1.7	1.9	10.6
2008-09	BOS	80	33.0	9.5	.505	0.6	.313	.514	3.4	.642	5.2	8.2	1.9	2.6	11.9
2009-10 ★	BOS	81	36.6	11.2	.508	1.0	.213	.517	3.5	.621	4.4	9.8	2.3	3.0	13.7
2010-11 ★	BOS	68	37.2	9.9	.475	0.6	.233	.482	1.9	.568	4.4	11.2	2.3	3.4	10.6
2011-12 ★	BOS	53	36.9	10.8	.448	0.8	.238	.456	3.4	.597	4.8	11.7	1.8	3.6	11.9
2012-13 ★	BOS	38	37.4	12.2	.484	1.3	.240	.497	2.4	.645	5.6	11.1	1.8	3.9	13.7
2013-14	BOS	30	33.3	11.7	.403	3.0	.289	.440	2.2	.627	5.5	9.8	1.3	3.3	11.7
2014-15	TOT	68	29.7	9.5	.426	1.3	.314	.447	1.1	.397	5.5	7.9	1.3	3.1	8.9
Career		520	32.6	9.6	.470	0.8	.263	.481	2.5	.609	4.7	8.3	1.8	2.8	10.8

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/7/2015.

Highlights:

Next: Kosta Koufos

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:

Next: Marco Belinelli

Feb 4, 2015; San Antonio, TX, USA; San Antonio Spurs shooting guard Marco Belinelli (3) shoots the ball over Orlando Magic point guard Elfrid Payton (4) during the first half at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-USA TODAY Sports

Marco Belinelli

Strengths: Three-point shooting, championship experience

Honestly, there doesn’t seem to be much more to Belinelli’s game than long-range shooting. He’s a career 39 percent shooter from deep and has won the three-point contest before, and aside from that and free-throw shooting not much jumps off of the page about Belinelli.

He has won a title however, so that helps. He seems to be a good teammate and should be a net plus as far as team chemistry goes, as he’s another guy who knows his role, similar to Kosta Koufos.

Weaknesses: Defense, volume scoring, consistent scoring

Belinelli has never posted a defensive rating better than 105, and that was in a career year for him with the San Antonio Spurs. He’s not a complete defensive liability, but he doesn’t seem to be a lockdown defender either.He’s also never scored more than 11.4 points per game in a season, despite starting 124 games for the then-New Orleans Hornets over two seasons.

He’s a catch and shoot three-point guy, no more, no less. Kind of like Kyle Korver, except slightly worse defensively. The most interesting question about Belinelli isn’t what he’s going to do on the court, it’s in what role he’ll be doing it.

Belinelli’s Role on the Kings: I’m still pretty unsure on this. It’s clear Rajon Rondo will be the Kings’ point guard, but I think Belinelli, McLemore and Collison might all compete to be the other member of the starting backcourt next season. I think Belinelli is best suited to come off of the bench, although his spacing would help a team that has non-shooters starting in Rondo, WCTS and Boogie.

Career Statistics:

Season	Tm	G	GS	MP	FGA	FG%	3PA	3P%	eFG%	FTA	FT%	TRB	AST	STL	TOV	PF	PTS
2007-08	GSW	33	0	7.3	2.8	.387	1.2	.390	.473	0.3	.778	0.4	0.5	0.2	0.4	0.5	2.9
2008-09	GSW	42	23	21.0	7.5	.442	3.1	.397	.524	1.2	.769	1.7	2.1	0.9	1.4	1.7	8.9
2009-10	TOR	66	1	17.0	5.7	.406	2.4	.380	.485	1.8	.835	1.4	1.3	0.6	0.9	1.2	7.1
2010-11	NOH	80	69	24.5	8.6	.437	4.1	.414	.534	1.6	.784	1.9	1.2	0.5	1.0	1.8	10.5
2011-12	NOH	66	55	29.8	10.4	.417	4.3	.377	.495	2.0	.783	2.6	1.5	0.7	1.0	1.7	11.8
2012-13	CHI	73	27	25.8	8.4	.395	3.0	.357	.460	2.3	.839	1.9	2.0	0.6	1.1	1.9	9.6
2013-14	SAS	80	25	25.2	8.7	.485	3.7	.430	.576	1.6	.847	2.8	2.2	0.6	1.2	1.6	11.4
2014-15	SAS	62	9	22.4	7.6	.423	3.7	.374	.515	1.6	.848	2.5	1.5	0.5	1.0	1.4	9.2
Career		502	209	22.8	7.9	.430	3.4	.392	.514	1.7	.819	2.0	1.6	0.6	1.0	1.6	9.4

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/7/2015.

Highlights:

Next: James Anderson

Mar 21, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard James Anderson (9) shoots under pressure from New York Knicks guard J.R. Smith (8) during the first quarter at the Wells Fargo Center. The Knicks defeated the Sixers 93-92. Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

James Anderson

Strengths: Scoring and rebounding (sort of), value

Anderson has just one year in the NBA where he really got to play, 2014 with the Philadelphia 76ers. He played over two-thirds of his NBA minutes that season, so I’m going to judge him off of that time. He averaged 10 points and 3.8 rebounds in 29 minutes with the 76ers, which is fairly decent production from the wing. It’s not very good, but at least he put up something for his team.

I still can’t seem to find specific numbers on Anderson’s contract, but it’s almost guaranteed to be very little. He’s essentially a low-risk, low-reward gamble. If he ends up being a serviceable bench wing, great, keep him around for a while at very low-cost. If not, he can be dumped for very little as well. Expect to see him hustling hard in Summer League games soon.

Weaknesses: Potential, overall skill level

Anderson probably will never be an NBA starter in Sacramento, and that’s okay. He’s a bench body, who only started games for Philly because that team won 19 games all season. The Kings, despite not being contenders, will win more than 19 games. Anderson won’t swing the needle one way or another in his hopefully limited role, but at least he’s cheap.

There’s a reason he couldn’t get any jobs in the NBA last year and had to play in Europe. Maybe he’s better now, or maybe NBA teams missed an opportunity in signing him, but usually there’s a reason players can’t find a roster spot.

Anderson’s Role on the Kings: Bench body. No more, maybe less if he doesn’t make the final 15 man roster, which is a possibility. It all depends on Summer League for James Anderson.

Career Statistics:

Season	Tm	Pos	G	MP	FGA	FG%	3PA	3P%	eFG%	FTA	FT%	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PTS
2010-11	SAS	SF	26	11.0	3.1	.383	1.8	.391	.494	0.7	.778	0.9	0.7	0.1	0.2	0.5	3.6
2011-12	SAS	SG	51	11.8	3.4	.379	1.3	.279	.434	1.0	.750	1.5	0.8	0.2	0.0	0.6	3.7
2012-13	TOT	SG-SF	39	10.3	3.2	.413	1.5	.350	.496	0.7	.857	1.8	1.1	0.4	0.1	0.6	3.8
2013-14	PHI	SG	80	28.9	9.0	.431	4.4	.328	.511	1.3	.726	3.8	1.9	0.9	0.4	1.3	10.1
Career			196	18.4	5.6	.417	2.7	.330	.496	1.0	.755	2.4	1.3	0.5	0.2	0.9	6.3

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/7/2015.

Highlights:

More from A Royal Pain

Ti Windisch