Sacramento Kings: 3 goals for Skal Labissiere

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SACRAMENTO, CA – OCTOBER 18: James Harden #13 of the Houston Rockets shoots a layup against Skal Labissiere #7 of the Sacramento Kings on October 18, 2017 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Finally, become a better defender

One of the biggest knocks on Labissiere during the draft process was his defense, or lack thereof. Last season, Skal was 265th in the NBA in defensive rating, posting a mark of 108.8.

Now, this isn’t to say Skal needs to become an All-NBA level defensive talent, rather he just needs to be average. A jump to around a 105 defensive rating is reasonable, and would put him in that ‘average’ tier.

A less substantial jump could also be mitigated by improvement on the offensive end as well and it’s important to keep that in mind. If Skal only makes marginal improvements on that end of the floor, it won’t matter if he’s able to put up 10-15 points per game at an efficient shooting clip.

While a lot of the issues with Skal’s game are those that have been noted since his college days, so too are all the things that had him projected as a top-pick at one point.

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It’s important to remember that he is still very young too. At only 22 years old, there’s plenty of time for him to get better and adjust to the game more. The only issue is that if he can’t make sizable improvement now, or at least before the end of the 2019-20 season, he may not be in Sacramento when he does finally breakout.

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