A Royal Pain
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Kings: 3 Goals For De’Aaron Fox Down The Stretch

By Anthony Cardenas

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 17: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings guards Devonte' Graham #4 of the Charlotte Hornets during the first quarter at the Spectrum Center on December 17, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. 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 License Agreement. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - DECEMBER 17: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings guards Devonte' Graham #4 of the Charlotte Hornets during the first quarter at the Spectrum Center on December 17, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. 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 License Agreement. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /
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De’Aaron Fox has been playing some of the best basketball of his career lately. What does the Sacramento Kings point guard need to do to finish the season strong?

The Sacramento Kings’ season is all but lost as we wrap up the All-Star break, but there are still important issues and players to keep an eye on down the stretch. One of those players is De’Aaron Fox, who still has goals to meet despite having another year of improvement.

It has been a roller coaster of a season for both the Kings and Fox, who has missed a total of 18 games due to injury. But how a team closes out the season can easily set the tone for the summer and the start of the following season as well, evidenced by the Kings’ performance post-All-Star break last season. A solid showing over the final 29 games for Fox would give Sacramento at least one thing that they can count on going into next season.

So what does Fox have to accomplish during the remaining games in order to set himself up for early success next year? Here are three things.

#1. Average 21 Points

One of our goals for De’Aaron Fox this season was getting his points per game average up to and over 20, and he is currently right on the cusp. His number sits at 19.7 for the year, and scoring 21 per game for the remaining 29 games will complete the achievement.

This shouldn’t be too lofty as a goal, as Fox has averaged a shade under 22 points since January 1st. He started out the season as slowly as the Kings themselves did, and put up just 17.1 points per over the first 16 games that he played.

One area in which Fox has struggled that would help with his numbers is his three-point shooting. Despite the increase in production since the start of the new year, his three-point numbers have taken a dip when they weren’t great to begin with. He was shooting 32 percent from long range in his first 16 games, and is down to 29 percent in the 20 since.

The shooting regression is disappointing for Fox after seeing his percentage jump from 30.7 to 37.1 between his rookie and sophomore seasons. This was seen as a huge positive for a player who had shooting concerns when he was going through the draft process three years ago. Now, he is averaging an even worse number than he did in his first year.

However, there is one other obvious way that Fox can up his scoring numbers, and that is by achieving goal #2…

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