Grading Frank Mason III’s Rookie Season
By Rafe Wong
This article is part of a new writing series where the A Royal Pain team grades how each player on the purple and white performed in their 2017-2018 campaign. This piece will feature Frank Mason III who was drafted by the Sacramento Kings last summer.
The Sacramento Kings drafted Frank Mason III with the 34th pick in last year’s NBA draft. Check out how I thought Mason performed in his first season as an NBA player.
Offense
For the season, Mason averaged 7.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per contest. Positives that Mason showcased on offense were that he did a good job in facilitating the Kings’ second unit as he dictated the pace of the game and made smart plays. Mason was also good when shooting the long ball this year as he made 36% of his shots from the area.
The negatives to take away from Mason’s season were that he was not very efficient when scoring the basketball, especially in the later stages of the year. Although he made 36% of his threes this season, his clip from beyond the arc declined as the year went on. In the first two months of his campaign, Mason made well over 40% of his three-point attempts. But in his final two months, his percentage fell in the low 30s.
Mason also struggled to score in general as he made just 38% of his shots for the year. This is due to Mason having little success slashing to the basket which resulted in him making just 38% of his two-point attempts.
Defense
For the year, Mason recorded a defensive rating of 112.8 which was ranked eighth amongst his teammates. In my mind, Mason was a product of the Kings’ overall defense which was subpar. He showed occasional flashes of his defensive potential, but most of the time he was ineffective.
In my opinion, for Mason to improve defensively he needs to be more aggressive. He may not be tall, but he is strong and quick, and if he uses those physical tools to his advantage, he will be able to give his opponents fits.
Final Thoughts
Like most rookies, Frank Mason had some good moments during his first NBA season. But with that also came a lot of learning lessons.
I think for Mason to improve as an offensive player he needs to be more acclimated to the Kings’ system and also learn how to finish better around the rim. On the defensive side, he needs to develop a more aggressive mindset for he has the physical tools to be an agitator against his opponents.
Although Mason’s season got worse as the season went on, I do believe he has a bright future with the Kings. He is not going to be the hero that leads the Kings back to being competitive, but I think he can play a valuable part in the Kings’ rebuild by being a key role player in Dave Joerger’s rotation.