Apparently, Domantas Sabonis believes that the Sacramento Kings' offense runs best through him. He's not completely wrong, but that's also nothing to brag about. The Kings still have a terrible record with him in control, mostly because that strategy isn't effective and he's terrible on defense.
For game one of the regular season, the Kings put their brand new rookie point guard on display. It's safe to say that Darius Acuff Jr. crumbled under the pressure. He went five for 24 from the field and zero for seven from the three-point arc. It wasn't a good start for him in the NBA.
It's also not all his fault. Again, Acuff is a rookie who's going to need time to get up to NBA speed. The Kings' plan to make him their starting point guard with no backup or support at the position is, at best, terrible. Who could blame Acuff if the pressure is getting to him a bit?
Sabonis takes the opportunity to focus on himself
Rather than being supportive of the rookie, Sabonis seemed like he was taking a bit of a shot at Acuff. In his recent media time, the Kings' All-Star big man had a lot to say about his usage, as well as what the point guard was up to, all without mentioning Acuff by name.
"Move the ball. Get me the ball more so I can swing it and get guys open. You know, we took a lot of one-pass shots, pick-and-roll shots without passing the ball, you know, those numbers are really high and I feel like we're best when we kind of mix it up - point guard shoots, point guard hits the corner, point guard hits me, then I can make the read - that's where I'm best at."Domantas Sabonis
Keep in mind that Sabonis has consistently brushed off trade talk as nothing more than rumors. He seems like he's a little removed from the idea that the Kings are trying to push this franchise forward without him. Sacramento has tried running the offense through him before, and it's gone nowhere.
The absolute best the Sabonis era in Sacramento has produced is one trip to the playoffs with a side of first-round exit. Beyond that, it's been the usual grab bag of awfulness. Plus, saying the Kings are better with the offense running through Sabonis is a really low bar to get over.
Sabonis is missing the point entirely
To be fair to Domas, Acuff does need to pass the ball a lot more. He can't win games by himself in the NBA, especially when he's a rookie shooting 20.8% from the field. Acuff has to start playing as part of the team, not trying to run the whole offense by himself. He's not ready for that.
The same is true for Sabonis. Sacramento's track record with him as the offensive hub is brutal on a good day. Continuing down that path, particularly with two great young centers like Maxime Raynaud and Dylan Cardwell waiting in the wings, makes no sense in the long term.
Honestly, the bigger problem is that both Sabonis and Acuff offer nothing on defense. Having them together on the same line presents a huge problem on that end of the court. There are a lot of issues to address here, and they won't be solved by focusing this team on the one center they want to trade.
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