Sacramento Kings Pre-Hiatus Report Card: Harry Giles

Orchestrating The Offense

There are a select number of bigs in the NBA that possess a comparable half court vision and passing ability that allow coaches to scheme an offense around the ball being in their hands. A majority of the talents with this skill set are current or previous all-stars such as Nikola Jokic, Domantas Sabonis, Bam Adebayo, Marc Gasol, and Al Horford. Harry Giles deservedly falls under this exclusive category as well.

Giles surveying the floor and picking apart defenses from the elbow is a thing of beauty, from bullet bounce passes threading the needle to hitting backdoor cutters to soft entry passes over the defenders’ heads. Giles is continually passing his teammates open and has a feel beyond his years, evident in his impressive utilization of his left and right hand.

It is crucial to note that Giles is hardly moving when looking to distribute and therefore presents less threat individually to opposing players, yet Giles is not one to hesitant pulling up from that range. No player on the Sacramento roster shot a higher percentage of their attempts from the mid-range than Harry Giles, per Cleaning the Glass. Knocking down those looks at a respectable 41 percent rate keeps defenses honest and allows those passing lanes to present themselves to Giles more often.

While he is functioning as the primary facilitator, those mid ranges are necessary as the elbow is the ideal placement for seeing and distributing across the floor. He needs to expand his horizons to fit with others more seamlessly. Giles has yet to possess an ability to take a step back and knock it down from three with a total of zero attempts this season, although there is warranted reasoning for optimism.

In order for Giles to expand his game and versatility on the offensive end, he needs to start hitting the long ball at even a slightly below average rate. There was also notable improvement in Giles’ turnover percentage (down from 16.0% to 14.5%), free throw percentage (63.7% to 76.7%), and finishing at the rim (63% to 75%!!).

Showing an ability to impact the game offensively away from the ball would allow Giles to expand his horizons, but he is proven to be fully functional running the second unit in his current state. Offensively, Harry Giles was a force to be reckoned with this season and it’s easy to remember why the city of Sacramento has fallen so hard for him. It’s the other end of the floor where the real concerns come into play.