Sacramento’s newest free agent is coming off a solid season with the Mavericks and figures to be an integral part of the Kings rotation this year, but can he be better?
Yogi Ferrell joined the Sacramento Kings during the offseason when he rejected a deal to return to Dallas, instead opting to sign with the Kings for two-years $6.2 million.
He is coming off of a season where he played all 82 games and a shade over 27 minutes per contest. His stats don’t jump off of the page, 10.2 points, 3 rebounds and 2.5 assists, but they represent his ability to be a solid all-around player off of the bench.
He’s shown he can score in bunches with five games of 20-plus points scored and 17 games with at least 15 points last season alone.
The biggest issue with his offensive game might just be his shooting efficiency. While he held a solid 54 percent true shooting percentage last season, his field-goal percentage sat at a less than stellar 42.6.
That is certainly an area of concern heading into the season. On the plus-side, however, when he’s on the court he won’t be the focal point of the offense which should give him more open looks, naturally boosting his efficiency.
Aside from that, he’s not a particularly strong defender posting a -0.6 defensive box plus-minus but he did boast a solid 103.8 defensive rating. Not great, but not terrible either and more than serviceable considering the Kings own defensive woes.
If Ferrell can hit these three goals and be consistently good for Sacramento, he could very well be one of their best free-agent signings in this decade.
If Yogi is going to be a dependable option for the Sacramento Kings, he’s going to have to score more efficiently. The most troubling part about his scoring is that his three-point percentages have dropped since his first in the league, same with his free throw percentages.
Of course that could be attributed to an increase in playing time, but he averaged 26 minutes a contest his rookie season. The only major change in playing time was in games played where he jumped from 46 in 2016-17 to a full 82-game slate in 2017-18.
You could also argue they declined because he took more shots but his shots per game remained very consistent from both years. Between his first and second seasons, his three-point percentage dropped from 38.6 percent (40.3 percent in 36 games with Dallas) to 37.3 percent last season. His free-throw percentage dropped roughly four points as well, from 83.1 percent (87.7 percent with Dallas) to 79.6 percent last season.
He’s going to have to improve in overall FG% and FT% this season. If he can maintain a three-point percentage around his career average of 37.9 percent he’ll be in good shape there. For his FT% he’s going to have to get back over 80 percent from the line and ideally back to where his was in 2016-17 with Dallas.
From the field, a modest increase to 45 percent would suffice but more would be ideal. He should have ample opportunity to do so, but we’ll have to wait and see how he plays with the bench unit during the season.
Ferrell’s steals per game has declined from his first year, but only by .1, not exactly a huge drop off. He averaged 0.8 steals per game last season and the Sacramento Kings should look for him to up that to an even 1.0 per game.
The Kings were an unmitigated disaster defensively last season and even as small of a thing as one steal per game could make a big difference. It could be an even bigger difference-maker if it allows the Kings to get out and run in transition, something this roster is primed to do.
Playing with the reserves should give Ferrell a chance to pick on the second-unit of the opposing team, and he did average over a steal per contest (1.1) in his first stint in Dallas in 2016-17.
If he’s able to pick off one or two passes per game and give the Kings easy fast-break buckets Sacramento could see a dramatic increase in offensive output if he and the rest of the team can make those plays. Yogi Ferrell might not be an offensive focal point when it comes to scoring, but he’s likely to be the one initiating the offense and if he’s able to be disruptive defensively, he could run the offense at a much quicker pace and with more efficiency.
This isn’t to insinuate that Yogi Ferrell isn’t durable enough for the NBA, he proved he was last season when he played all 82 games. This is more about making sure he’s able to suit up in most, if not all, games for the Sacramento Kings this season.
Yogi Ferrell is going to be a key player for the Kings this season. He’s is a considerable upgrade over Frank Mason III in the backup point guard role and will be tasked with running the second-team offense and taking over if De’Aaron Fox is out for whatever reason.
The drop off from Fox to Mason is much larger than the one from Fox to Ferrell, you could even argue Ferrell was a better player than Fox last season. That, is why he must stay healthy this year. If he can stay on the court for at least 75 games this season, the Kings will be in pretty good shape.
Keep in mind that’s not to say if Yogi Ferrell misses significant time it’ll be catastrophic for Sacramento, but it’ll hurt. A lot.
Fortunately for the Kings, they’re going not playing with the expectations of making a playoff run and they have plenty of time to grow as Ferrell is under contract until the end on the 2019-20 season.