With summer league officially over for the Sacramento Kings, we here at A Royal Pain will give individual grades to the players on the team. Naz is up next!
Quick Intro
With De’Aaron Fox and Frank Mason dealing with injuries and Buddy Hield no longer in the mix, it was up to some of the lesser known players to step up. This player started slowly as he was still trying to find his rhythm, but he was a key part in his last game vs. the Phoenix Suns.
Undrafted guard Naz Mitrou-Long out of Iowa State was known as a sharpshooter thanks to his 38% three-point shooting in his final year of college. I mentioned before how the Kings have shooters on their roster and Naz was one of them.
Numbers
Naz Mitrou-Long appeared in four games where he showed improvement after every appearance. Averaging 26 minutes a game, here is how Mitrou-Long’s numbers fared:
9.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 2.0 APG, 1 SPG, +9 plus/minus while shooting 40% from the field and 25% from deep.
As I said, Mitrou-Long got better by the game. The final game against the Suns really exemplified this. He finished the game with 21 points, 6 rebounds, and 5 assists. It was his best overall outing as he displayed a solid three-point shot.
Mitrou-Long is one of those players that you can call a “microwave”. He may start slow, but when his shots are falling in, he keeps heating up. Sadly, we weren’t able to see much of Naz to get a clear perspective of him as a player. However, Naz playing for the Kings’ summer league team showed us that he surely can ball, but needs time to get adjusted.
Final Thoughts
I really enjoyed the shooting that Naz brought to the table along with the potential to be a solid offensive threat. Unfortunately, the Kings already have plenty of guards on the roster and his 6’4″ height is too small to play as a small forward.
Based on what we saw from Mitrou-Long, here is my final grade for him: