3 Stats that should have Sacramento Kings fans excited about next season

Statistic #3: Free Throw Shooting

While teams have very little control over how well they shoot from three, they have plenty of authority over whether or not they convert on their free throws. Unfortunately, the Kings didn't take advantage of that, finishing 30th in team free throw percentage.

There are two pieces of good news here. First, the headliner of our tremendous offseason, DeMar DeRozan, both takes (98th percentile in free throws per 75 possessions, per Dunks & Threes) and makes (82nd percentile in free throw percentage) a lot of shots at the charity stripe.

Second, De'Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Malik Monk, and Domantas Sabonis all had down years from the free throw line. So, they have the aptitude to shoot better from the free throw line. It just didn't happen for them last year.

Why Do We Care About This Stat?

On a recent episode of the Dunc'd On Basketball NBA Podcast, Kings Reporter James Ham mentioned to Nate Duncan that the team calculated that they lost five games last year because of their free throw shooting woes.

If you add those five games with the three games they lost because of their poor shooting luck, the Kings are a 54-win team instead of a 46-win one. That record would have been good for fourth in the Western Conference last year.

Now, imagine those stats go our way with our new and improved roster. Pretty darn exciting, right?