The Sacramento Kings have a talented roster. Talent is something you want to have in the NBA. However, you also want to have size, and unfortunately, the Kings are sorely lacking in this area.
Many of their key rotation players are guards (De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, and Keon Ellis). And then you have guys like DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis, who aren't guards but are still undersized for the positions they are being asked to play.
The only guys in Sacramento's preferred rotation that you could classify as being above average in the size category for their position are Keegan Murray, Trey Lyles, and Kevin Huerter. That means the Kings are really leaning on those three when they face teams with bigger rosters.
Aaron Gordon is too big for the Kings
Unfortunately, all three of those players were missing when the Kings played the Denver Nuggets – a team that touts a great deal of size in their frontcourt.
The Nuggets starting frontline of Micheal Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon, and Nikola Jokic all measure in at 6'9 or taller. The Kings have Domantas Sabonis to bang with Jokic (an assignment he handled wonderfully), and Porter plays more of a perimeter-based game. So, you can get away with putting a smaller defender on him.
The real issue they had to deal with was the Herculean Gordon. With Murray missing, DeRozan had to slide into the power forward spot, and man, was he not ready to deal with Gordon.
In the first quarter, Gordon scored 14 points on 5-for-9 shooting. The Nuggets held a 41-21 lead in the first quarter. DeRozan picked up two quick fouls and held a -19 plus-minus in his seven minutes of action.
The Nuggets are such a different team with Aaron Gordon in the lineup. Gives them a second mismatch hunter alongside Nikola Jokić. pic.twitter.com/Rl2swSvJbT
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) December 17, 2024
For some reason, the Nuggets stopped force-feeding Gordon the basketball, as he only took five shots in the last three quarters of the game despite the Kings not making any significant adjustments.
Regardless, when the Nuggets were giving Gordon the ball, the Kings looked absolutely helpless. Even the newly-acquired Jae Crowder looked rough in his limited minutes against Gordon.
Size continues to be an issue for Sacramento's defense. Matchups like Aaron Gordon are gonna be severe problems & it's only amplified without Keegan in the lineup. pic.twitter.com/kmRA3Bcqh7
— Skyler (KFR) (@SacFilmRoom) December 17, 2024
The Kings did end up mounting a major comeback (even holding a ten-point lead at one points), nearly earning a signature win in the process. But the point still stands: the Kings need more size on their roster.