No, The Sacramento Kings Are Not Better Without De’Aaron Fox

Since the injury to De’Aaron Fox, the Sacramento Kings have won 3 of their last 4 games and are a game out of the playoff race. Coincidence?

The Sacramento Kings have made quite a turnaround since their sluggish start to the 2019-’20 season. They have a 6-7 record after starting the season 0-5, and are in the top ten in multiple statistical categories for the month of November. The only losses for Sacramento in their last eight games were both on the road and by a combined 6 points against the Raptors and Lakers.

Things looked like they might fall apart last week when De’Aaron Fox, the motor that drives the Kings, was diagnosed with a Grade 3 ankle sprain that is scheduled to sideline him for at least another month and likely two. Sacramento was coming up on a brutal stretch on their schedule with games against the top-two teams in the league as well as contests against the Suns and Trail Blazers.

Much to the surprise of fans and analysts, the Kings managed to go 3-1 over that stretch and played the best basketball that we’ve seen from them all season.

So what changed? Are the Sacramento Kings a better basketball team without De’Aaron Fox on the floor.

Simply put: no.

What Fox Brings

Fox is the most important player on the Kings roster, and probably the most talented. He finished in the top-3 of Most Improved Player voting last season and is considered by many to be one of the future stars of the NBA. In the nine games that he has played in so far this season, he is averaging 18.2 points and 7 assists.

But the Kings were just 3-6 with Fox in the lineup, and have won 3 of 4 since his injury. The recent resurgence by Sacramento has left some to wonder if the team’s success is due to the absence of it’s starting point guard.

It is something else entirely: the Kings have finally hit their groove, due in most part to familiarity.

Why The Kings Are Winning

Though the core remained the same through the offseason, there were plenty of complimentary players added to Sacramento’s roster. While us Kings fans thought the sky was falling after an 0-5 start to the season, the players were simply getting to know each other’s games and tendencies. There was also a lot of chatter about the hangover from the pre-season trip to India. But they have gelled as of late and are playing with intensity and consistency, both of which were missing during the first handful of games.

They are also becoming more familiar with the new system brought in by coach Luke Walton. After being one of the fastest teams in the NBA last season, Walton was blamed for the Kings’ sudden free-fall to 22nd in the pace rankings.

While their pace ranking has predictably dropped even further since Fox’s injury, their defense has seen immense improvement. Last season, the Kings allowed 115.3 points per game, which ranked them 26th best in the league. So far this season, they are allowing 109 points per, good enough to bring them up to 14th. Over their last eight games, Sacramento is allowing 104.8 points per game after giving up 115.6 per in their first five.

As for the pace, it seems as though Walton has an answer for that, too. A quote by the coach from a piece by Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee:

"“For us, there are more important things to winning that we feel we have to get on top of than pace, and those are the things we’re focused on in film sessions and the practice time we have, cleaning those up. When we get good and consistent and understand those things, then we can focus a lot more on just flying down the court”"

It seems as though the Kings are starting to figure out the things that Walton alluded to. They are amassing victories despite the drop in pace, their defense is some of the best we’ve seen from a Kings team in years, and they are, for the most part, playing fluid and cohesive basketball on the offensive end.

Final Thoughts

Will there be an adjustment when Fox returns? Of course. If the Kings are to continue their recent success through December and January, the style of play that they’ll be used to will be different than what Fox brings to the table.

But the players and coaching staff know that Fox is the star on this team. They will keep his return in mind when they create schemes and game plans, and his integration back in to the lineup should be seamless.

Fox does not have a definitive timetable for his return, and Grade 3 sprains can be tough to recover from. When he was diagnosed, it was said that he’d be re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks. The average number of games missed for this particular injury is 33, which would put Fox’s return around January 20th.

The Sacramento Kings hope to remain afloat until that time, eyeing a roster at full strength for the playoff push.