After Monday's loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the Sacramento Kings are 8-7 (9th in the Western Conference) and losers of two of their last three (and three of their last five). On top of that, the team is currently missing three of their five best players with injuries (DeMar DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis, and Malik Monk).
Not too much is going right for a team that aspires to make a deep run this postseason. However, there is one bright spot on which they can hang their hat.
Keon Ellis is an elite role player
Heading into the season, we were very optimistic about Keon Ellis' prospects on this basketball team. After Kevin Huerter went down with a shoulder injury in March, Ellis was asked to fill in for him as the team's starting shooting guard.
Ellis performed excellently in this opportunity. Ellis started the last 15 regular season games for the Kings in 2023-24, and in that span, the team (who hasn't been in the top 20 in defensive rating in two decades) finished 3rd in defensive rating in that span.
Given Ellis' blend of shooting, closeout attacking, perimeter defense, and secondary rim protection, it seemed like the Alabama product was the perfect role player for the modern NBA.
Things started bumpy for Ellis in 2024-25. In the team's second game of the season against the Los Angeles Lakers, Ellis logged the dreaded DNP-CD (Did Not Play-Coach's Decision). However, as the undrafted guard has done his entire life, he kept battling and stayed the course.
All of Ellis' perseverance was finally rewarded on Monday against the Hawks. In 33 minutes of action, Ellis scored 33 points and hit nine threes (six in a row). He also had a steal and a block and posted a +15 plus-minus in a game that was decided by one point. Not only did Ellis explode, but the game demonstrated all the things that we mentioned above that make him such a valuable complimentary player.
This game was the high mark in what has been a season-long trend for the Kings: they are a better basketball team with Ellis on the floor. According to Cleaning the Glass, the Kings are 16 points better per 100 possessions when Ellis is on the floor (92nd percentile). That's a team-high, and the only player who even comes close is Domantas Sabonis (+14.6 per 100).
Ellis isn't a star, but he's the kind of connector piece you need to pair with high-level players in order to make all the pieces fit. And the fact that Ellis is repeating his success from last season means that this isn't just some fluke.
Regardless of how everything else is going, unlocking a player like this without even spending a draft pick on him is something to smile about.