Cory Joseph did pretty much exactly what he was brought in by the Sacramento Kings to do. So what overall grade does he get for the season?
The Sacramento Kings signed Cory Joseph as a part of their summer spending spree during the 2019 offseason, handing the eight-year veteran a 3-year, $37.2 million contract. He was brought in to serve as De’Aaron Fox‘s primary backup at the point guard position as well as provide a much-needed defensive presence to the Kings’ backcourt.
So how did Joseph perform this year? How did he do in filling his role and what would his grade for the season be?
PROS
One of the best things that Joseph accomplished all season was his ability to change roles in the middle of the season and still provide production for his team. For the first eight games of the season, Joseph averaged just 15.8 minutes per game as the Kings struggled to find their identity early on.
And then De’Aaron Fox got hurt. Joseph’s minutes nearly doubled to 30.8 over the next 24 games, and some believed that it was his play that helped the Kings climb out of their early hole. There was a stretch of games where Joseph was applauded for his defense against James Harden, Luka Doncic, and Chris Paul, all of which turned out to be Sacramento victories. While we were always unsure about Luke Walton‘s insistence on preaching defense first, Joseph’s effort on that end of the floor made the Kings look like they were at least doing something correctly.
One small surprise was Joseph’s slight improvement on in his three point shooting percentage. His career average before the 2019-’20 season was 32.7 percent, and he upped that to 35.1 percent.
CONS
Based on what we expected of Cory Joseph and what he was brought in to be, there are not a whole lot of negatives when examining his season. We knew he wouldn’t be a scoring threat, and that he instead would be a defensive specialist. He succeeded in helping to contain some of the Western Conference’s best backcourt players, so finding cons for his season is tough.
We could look at his contract and decide that $12 million per year is a lot to dish out to a backup point guard, but then you remember the “Sacramento Tax” and how important a solid reserve can be.
But the one glaring negative from Joseph’s season was the end of the game in San Antonio in early December. The Kings blew a nine point lead in less than two minutes, thanks in large part to back-to-back turnovers by Joseph that closed Sacramento’s lead from 7 to 3. The game went in to overtime and the Kings lost. Had they held on to that lead, they would have swept all three Texas teams on their road trip. A few games later, the team was sent in to a tailspin and lost 15 of 18 games. Joseph’s fault? No. But a win in San Antonio certainly would have boosted confidence and moral.
OVERALL GRADE
Cory Joseph was exactly who we expected him to be, and might have even exceeded expectations a bit. While it might seem crazy to give such a high grade to a guy who averaged 6.3 points in 24 minutes, the Kings would have been even worse off had Joseph not been around.
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