Midseason report card: Grading every Kings player’s performance at the All-Star Break
By Elaine Blum
54 games into the season, we have gotten a pretty good look at this Kings team and the individual players. As a team, they have combined for a winning record, including some huge games against the top teams in the West, and are not out of playoff contention quite yet.
Apart from the top, things move fast in the Western Conference standings, and the Kings still have time to regain a playoff spot instead of fighting their way through the Play-In Tournament.
For now, let’s grade every Kings player’s performance at the All-Star Break.
De’Aaron Fox
De’Aaron Fox did not make the All-Star game this year, but he is putting up great numbers. Averaging 26.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.9 steals he is having his best season so far.
He is eleventh in scoring across the league right now after being in the top ten for the first few months. A huge part of this is that Fox’s three-point shot is much improved. He is currently shooting 37.6 percent on 7.8 attempts per game. Both are easily career highs.
Likewise, his defense is much improved. The one knock on Fox’s 2023-24 season is that his production has been a little up-and-down, as he has been dealing with injuries. Still, it’s been a good season in which Fox already recorded six games with at least 40 points, 13 games with 30 or more points, and 25 games with multiple steals.
Grade: B
Domantas Sabonis
Despite not being on All-Star this season, Domantas Sabonis has been amazing thus far. He leads the league in rebounding, double-doubles, and triple-doubles this season. He has put up numbers we haven’t seen since Wilt Chamberlain and broke franchise records.
Sabonis has easily been the most consistent Kings player this season, not missing a single game so far and putting in the work night in and night out. Offensively, the big man does everything: scoring, rebounding, passing, and setting screens.
He has been right there with the best centers in the league all season long and deserves more recognition for what he is doing.
Grade: A