For the Sacramento Kings to make anything out of this season, everyone needs to bring their best game. That includes Keon Ellis who has been really on and off so far, mostly off. But all the Kings need to do is get him shooting threes a lot, and the rest will take care of itself.
Kings' fans know Keon Ellis can ball. He's got everything it takes to be successful in the NBA, and he proved it on the court several times last season. When they faced the Hawks in November 2024, he dropped 33 points on them, which was a career best. The guy can shoot.
So far, 2025-2026 has been at mediocre season for the young shooting guard at the best of times. He's had a couple of games where he stepped up, but it's been rough going for the most part. More often than not, he's looked uncomfortable on the court, like he's trying to figure out his place.
In the Kings' recent victory over the Warriors, he scored zero points and only took one shot in 17 minutes. That's not great, though you do have to give him credit for his two rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Still, he has to find his shooting rhythm if he's going to be an asset to Sacramento.
It's time Ellis started raining threes on people
The thing about Ellis is that he can be a heck of a three-point shooter when he gets into that rhythm. In the previously mentioned game against the Hawks last season, he shot nine for 15 from three. That's 66.7%, which is insane. It's a pattern that holds when you look at 2025-2026.
When he scored 12 against OKC, Ellis went two for five from three. The same was true against the Nuggets as he picked up 15 points while shooting five for eight from long distance. All of his points in that game came from behind the arc, which is not a coincidence.
Alternatively, Ellis did not take a single three-pointer against the Warriors. The fewer three-point shots he takes, the worse he does. As such, the way to get Ellis rolling is to push him to take more shots from the arc. Even if he doesn't score a lot right away, he'll eventually find a rhythm that works.
Ellis cannot have another game where he doesn't take a single three. Yes, he's still a solid defender and can contribute in other ways. But he's too good of a long-distance shooter not to shoot. The Kings need to feed him the ball at the line and push him to be the player fans have seen glimpses of.