Heading into the All-Star break, the Sacramento Kings carry the 21st-ranked defense in the NBA (meaning their top 10 defense drought will likely continue). On top of that, over the trade deadline, they acquired three players (Zach LaVine, Jonas Valanciunas, and Jake LaRavia) who are considered to be of the offense-first variety.
These moves have left the Kings with a serious problem on the defensive side of the ball, making it paramount that the team used the buyout market to add a player who could boost them in this area.
While they didn't sign a player who was recently bought out, the Kings did add a free agent to their roster. If you couldn't tell from the headline, that player was former first overall pick, Markelle Fultz.
Markelle Fultz helps defense, but makes their shooting issue worse
After going first overall in the 2017 NBA Draft (ahead of guys like Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell), Fultz never really reached the star levels analysts predicted he would get to during his prime.
Still, Fultz has been able to make a solid career for himself with his contributions on the defensive side of the ball. Last season, he was in the 81st percentile in steal rate and the 77th percentile in block rate among combo guards. As a team, the Magic were in the 91st percentile in defensive rating when he was on the floor.
Fultz immediately becomes the team's second-best guard defender (after Keon Ellis). Unfortunately, playing Fultz will come with a cost. Unlike Ellis (who is a 44.7% 3-point shooter), Fultz is not a good, or even average, 3-point shooter. For his career, Fultz is a 27.4% 3-point shooter. Last season, he basically gave up on taking threes, shooting only 0.4 per game.
Now, not everyone on the floor needs to be a great shooter. On teams with great spacing, Fultz's shot diet can exist without completely cratering an offense. The Kings, however, are not one of those teams, ranking 20th in 3-point attempts and 25th in 3-point percentage. Remember, 3-point volume can be a better indicator of spacing than 3-point percentage. Regardless, neither of those numbers is where you want to be as an NBA team in 2025.
Despite being eligible to play, we did not see Fultz suit up on Thursday against the New Orleans Pelicans. So, we didn't get to witness firsthand how damaging Fultz's lack of shooting can be to this offense. Still, given how much the Kings need spacing and how little Fultz provides, it seems like this signing will only exacerbate this issue, despite how much he may help them on the defensive side of the ball. What the Kings really needed was a good defender who would, at the very least, not hurt their spacing any more than it is already suffering.