Sacramento Kings’ Summer League: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
By Rafe Wong
The Ugly
Injury Bug
The Kings entered summer league with a roster that was stacked with young talent, but it’s tough to play well with that talent when they aren’t completely healthy. Players like De’Aaron Fox, Malachi Richardson, and Frank Mason III all sat out multiple games during the Kings’ run due to injury. Papagiannis also injured himself in the Kings’ summer league finale.
All players were part of the main rotation for the Kings. Injuries weren’t the only reason why the Kings struggled in summer league, but it did contribute.
Poor Shooting
There is a good argument that the biggest weakness for the Kings this summer league was their inability to make shots, both from the three-point line and free-throw line. For their campaign, the Kings overall shot a percentage of 29.2 from beyond the perimeter and a clip of 68.6 from the charity stripe.
Like I mentioned above, the Kings were competitive in every game they played in during summer league. If the purple and white could have just made a decent amount of their shot attempts from the areas they struggled at, they might still be playing in the league’s tournament.
Sophomores
Probably the biggest disappointment from the Kings this past week. A big reason why the Kings were considered a contender for the summer league championship was due to the fact that Skal Labissiere, Buddy Hield, and Georgios Papagiannis were on the roster.
The three players showcased solid rookie campaigns, but unfortunately, their play from last season did not translate onto the summer hardwood. For the case of Skal, he was unaggressive which resulted in him struggling to score points and grab rebounds in the paint effectively. The same can be said about Papagiannis as well. For the case of Buddy, although he scored a lot of points, he wasn’t very efficient as he took numerous shot attempts that had a low possibility of going into the basket.
If the trio was able to play up to the level they performed from their rookie seasons, I believe the Kings could have been a powerhouse team in this year’s summer league games.