NBA ordered by defensive rating: looks like Kings won't end 21-year drought this year
By Mat Issa
As a general rule, it isn't wise to spend too much time fixating on small sample sizes. And with the NBA 2024-25 regular season not even one week old, the data set we are currently working with is exactly that.
However, even this early in the year, we can start to see some trends taking form, and one of those trends suggests that our Sacramento Kings won't be snapping this 21-year drought in 2024-25.
The last time the Sacramento Kings had a good defense
During the offseason, we noticed an interesting statistic about the Kings. Everyone wants to discuss the dreaded 16-year playoff drought they ended in 2022-23, but the real crazy dry spell the Kings are going through has to do with their defense.
Based on defensive rating, the Kings haven't had a top 10 defense since 2002-03 (when they finished second in that category). So, coming into this year, the Kings have gone 21 years without a top 10 defense. Even crazier, before last year (when they finished 14th), the Kings haven't had a top 20 defense since 2002-03.
This brings us to the start of this season. We're nearly a week into the NBA regular season, and so far, the Kings are a bottom five defense in the NBA (27th in defensive rating). Here are the bottom ten defenses in the NBA:
Team | Defensive Rating |
|---|---|
Washington Wizards | 30 |
New York Knicks | 29 |
Utah Jazz | 28 |
Sacramento Kings | 27 |
Atlanta Hawks | 26 |
Detroit Pistons | 25 |
Toronto Raptors | 24 |
Milwaukee Bucks | 23 |
Charlotte Hornets | 22 |
Indiana Pacers | 21 |
Still hope for a defensive turnaround
Obviously, there is still time for the Kings to right the ship. Outside of the fact they still have 80 games left to play, the Kings can hang their hat on the fact that the New York Knicks – a team that was projected to be pretty solid on defense – is struggling even more than them to begin the new season.
There is also the Keon Ellis of it all. Last season, after Kevin Huerter went down with a shoulder injury that cost him the rest of his season (March 18), Ellis became the team's starting shooting guard. From that point on, the Kings were third in defensive rating for their final 15 games of the regular season.
Curiously enough, Ellis has hardly played in the Kings' first two games (11 total minutes). If head coach Mike Brown starts calling his number more often (he should), the Kings' defense could be in for a massive improvement.
Hopefully, that is the case because not only is this streak getting out of hand, but the Kings are going to have to be a lot better than 27th in defensive rating if they hope to make some noise in the Western Conference.
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