Midseason report card: Grading every Kings player’s performance at the All-Star Break
By Elaine Blum
Davion Mitchell
As a former lottery pick, most of us expected Davion Mitchell to take a leap this season. That didn’t really happen. He started the season with some rough performances and even lost his spot in the rotation to Keon Ellis.
Lately, he has been playing better, and his perimeter defense is incredibly valuable on a team that lacks so much on that end of the floor. Still, it is fair to say that we all expected more this season.
Grade: C-
Alex Len
Since the 2021-22 season, Alex Len’s role on the Kings has continuously shrunk, but he has stayed ready and outplayed JaVale McGee several times this season. Len will not give you a lot of points or any flashy dunks but he grabs rebounds, sets solid screens, and defends decently.
He knows what his role is and usually plays it well when given a chance to be on the court. Unfortunately, he has been dealing with some injury troubles, limiting his impact.
Considering the circumstances of starting the season as the third center with only a limited chance to play, he has done quite well, however.
Grade: B-
Chris Duarte
Chris Duarte is hard to figure out on this Kings team. He was brought in to be a 3-and-D wing and even took Kevin Huerter’s starting spot for a while. He is only shooting 32.4 percent from three so far, however, and racked up fouls defensively.
As a result, he fell out of the rotation, and it seemed that it would stay that way for the rest of the season until the last game before the break. He only scored three points but played well defensively and changed the trajectory of the game.
So far, Duarte has been largely unreliable but will probably get another shot.
Grade: C-