In order for Sacramento Kings’ point guard De’Aaron Fox to have a successful sophomore season, he needs to focus on three goals.
The NBA regular season is about to start which means the Sacramento Kings will be playing in front of their wonderful fans real soon. There are so many things to be excited about for this season. The main reason being the immense amount of young talent that the Kings have on their roster. But out of that group, there are a couple of names that stand out above the rest. De’Aaron Fox being one of those names.
Last year, the Kings selected Fox with the fifth overall pick in the draft in the hopes that he can be their point guard of the future. During his rookie campaign, Fox had a so-so season as he suffered growing pains but also showed flashes of his potential.
Now that De’Aaron has one season under his belt, what aspects of the game should he focus on in order to make sure his sophomore year is a success? To me, there are three goals that the young Fox should keep in mind.
Goal #1: Facilitate The Offense
Fox is a great player to have on your team during a fast-break opportunity. But when it comes to slowing down the pace and setting up offensive schemes, improvement is needed from the 20-year old.
Managing the half-court offense effectively should be a focus for Fox this year. Last season, the offense consisted mainly of isolation basketball, and as a result, the Kings only scored 98.8 points a game which was the least amount of points scored by any team.
I am not saying that the entire blame for the Kings’ offensive woes belongs to Fox. But if he is able to get better in running the offense, it will definitely improve the Kings’ offense this season. It will increase the ball movement and limit one-on-one basketball which will result in more points.
Goal #2: Get Better At Shooting
Last season showed that Fox needs to improve on his jump shot. For the year, he made 41.2% of his shots from the court, 30.7% from beyond the arc, and 72.3% from the free-throw line. Overall, not good shooting numbers for the Kentucky comet. But there is hope that he will develop into a reliable shooter.
When watching Fox play last season, his shooting mechanics were solid. So his shooting woes are not a fundamental issue, but maybe just a lack of repetition. Hopefully, with more practice this offseason, Fox will become a better shooter for Sacramento this year.
If De’Aaron does shoot the ball better, it will make him a dynamic offensive threat as defenders will have to look out for his ability to make shots or drive to the basket with his blazing speed and quickness.
Goal #3: Improve Defense
Going into the draft, Fox was considered one of the best defensive players at his position. Unfortunately, the defense he showcased at the collegiate level did not translate during his rookie year with Sacramento.
For the season, Fox recorded a defensive rating of 112.4 which is considered below average. Even my eye test showed that opponents were constantly getting by him which usually resulted in easy buckets.
To be fair, however, Fox was just a rookie who was playing against competition that was a lot quicker and stronger than what he was used to. So it is understandable that he would experience struggles.
That is why this season De’Aaron should make it a goal to become a better defender. The mistakes he made last season should be limited this year, and if he is able to achieve that, it will help the Kings’ defense as a whole improve immensely.