Sacramento Kings: Biggest Concerns Heading Into Training Camp

Start of training camp and preseason play for NBA teams is now less than a month away but there remains some glaring holes and big question marks with the Sacramento Kings.  

Scoring Concerns

Last seasons leading scorer Zach Randolph figures to have a dramatically reduced role this season, leaving the Kings without a go-to scorer. There are players on the roster who have the ability to develop into a go-to guy, but will any of them make the leap?

Buddy Hield probably has the best odds at making that jump. He’s a plus-scorer from deep and can get points inside. He was the Kings second leading scorer last season, despite only getting to the free-throw line just once per game. Therein lies the biggest concern with Buddy’s development as a scorer. He’s hits a stellar 87 percent of his free throws, but hardly ever gets to the line. If Hield is going to become a 20 point per game scorer, he’s going to have to get the line more often.

De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley aren’t likely to take over the duties of a top scorer this season either. Fox struggled mightily with efficiency last season shooting just 41 percent from the field. Will he improve this year? Most likely, but will that improvement manifest itself in a season where Fox shoots better than at least 45 percent from the field and scorers nine more points per game than he did last season? That’s not exactly a safe bet.

As for Marvin Bagley III, he’s a rookie and it’s not fair to him to expect a rookie year where he’s the top scorer for Sacramento. He certainly could do it, especially if he puts together a Rookie of the Year type of campaign. Kings fans, however, should slow it down a bit before thinking Bagley will reach that level so quick.

How Big Are The Holes On Defense?

Last season the Kings were an absolute nightmare defensively. They were one of, if not the, worst defense in the NBA last season, and it’s not clear if Sacramento’s front office has done anything to fix it.

Last season, Sacramento allowed the fifth-fewest points in the paint in the NBA but, they allowed opponents to shoot 37.7 percent from three. The Kings allowed the second-most three-point attempts per game, as well as the second-most makes from three a night.

Luckily, Sacramento fielded a pretty solid interior defense last season, and they’ll look to build on that this year and that’s fine. Has Sacramento done anything to shore up the perimeter defense? Have the done anything to help patch up a transition defense that ranked 18th in the NBA? Marvin Bagley’s addition should help boost the Kings middling rebounding numbers but is that enough?

The Kings are banking on some serious internal development on defense, we’ll see if it pays off come preseason play.

How Do The Kings Manage The Hole At Small Forward?

The Kings hole at small forward has been well-documented this offseason and yet, nothing has changed. The Kings still lack a good option at small forward and seem content to ride into the season starting Justin Jackson and giving Bogdan Bogdanovic, Iman Shumpert and maybe even *sigh* Marvin Bagley time at the three. This could very well be the Kings biggest area of concern heading into the season.

Justin Jackson had a rookie year to forget but he did look sharp in summer league play. Which, is all well and good but it won’t matter if he can’t get it to translate to the regular season. Regardless, he’s the only true small forward on the roster. Even if he blows up and becomes a Most Improved Player of the Year candidate, the Kings need a backup there. A trade is possible, but it remains to be seen whether or not Sacramento is even willing to consider engaging in a trade to bring in another player.

Oct. 17 marks the Kings regular season opener, if these issues aren’t fixed, or at least addressed, in training camp and preseason we’re going to see them show up big when the games matter.