Summer League: Sacramento Kings Struggle

The Sacramento Kings struggled in day one of the Las Vegas NBA Summer League. Unlike last season where the Kings put a highly talented team full of NBA rotation caliber players, this years team features very few guys that should make an NBA roster. The Sacramento Kings roster overhaul has brought a wave of veterans leaving very little room for more than a handful of these players to be on the roster come opening night. That being said, there were some things to take from the first Summer League game.

Willie Cauley-Stein looks the part of an NBA big man. He can run the floor well. His offensive game is limited, especially at this point of his NBA career. One of the biggest factors in Cauley-Stein’s offensive efficiency is having a point guard who can get him the ball in a position to be successful. In game one Julyan Stone and Juwan Staten were asked to shoulder much of the point guard duties. In Stone’s case, he looked like a shooting guard forced into an uncomfortable role. Staten didn’t look much better despite being a true point guard during his time as West Virginia. If David Stockton can go in the next two games, the offense should look much better and run much smoother.

Eric Moreland was impressive in his first Summer League game of the season. He was consistently around the ball and giving maximum effort. He like Cauley-Stein did not have the benefit of a strong ball handler to get him the ball in situations to be successful. He needs to stay aggressive and work hard this summer if he wants to assure himself a spot on this roster. Unfortunately with the additions of Kosta Koufos and Cauley-Stein, his roster spot seems much less likely.

James Anderson was very underwhelming in his first game in a Sacramento Kings uniform. He seems to lack the athleticism needed to play at the NBA level. He missed both three pointers he took. He did hit 6 of the 9 field goal attempts and hit 3 of 4 free throws.

Outside of these guys, DeAndre Liggins, C.J. Leslie and Duje Dukan made a solid impression. Liggins looks the part of an NBA wing. He was able to get to rim and could be a solid rotation wing behind Rudy Gay and Ben Mclemore. Leslie showed some flashes. Like Liggins, he can be a rotation wing, although he doesn’t posses the athleticism of Liggins. Dukan could be a piece that fits what the Kings need. He is a knock down shooter that can play three and stretch four. He hit 50% of his 6 three-point attempts in game 1.

The Sacramento Kings next game will be Sunday, July 12 at 8 EST. I’ll be curious to see what improvements they have made after a day of practice. I also want to see who gets the minutes in game 2. In Summer League, 4 to 5 players on a given team don’t play in a particular game to allow the rest of the team to play consistent minutes. They will rotate these players on a game to game basis.