Ranking the 5 most important players on the Sacramento Kings Heading into 2024-25

#5: Keon Ellis

Last season, Keon Ellis looked like one of the most underrated role playing guards. Heck, if he keeps playing the way he did toward the end of the year, he'll be getting Derrick White comparisons in no time. The Kings are going to need Ellis to keep looking like that player if they hope to earn a top six spot in the Western Conference and make a deep playoff run.

With DeRozan, Fox, Monk, and Sabonis on the roster, the Kings have plenty of on-ball creation on their roster. To balance them out, the Kings need glue guys, and Ellis is just that. He's a strong perimeter defender (93rd percentile Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus, per Dunks & Threes), a great secondary rim protector for his position (98th percentile block rate among combo guards, per Cleaning the Glass), sound spacer (41.7% from three), and adept closeout attacker (88th percentile efficiency on drives, per Thinking Basketball).

Ellis' ability to slot in next to high-usage players could mean that he is the team's starting shooting guard heading into this season, making him an integral part of the team's success.

The only reason he isn't higher is because there is a chance (although it is getting slimmer by the day) that the Kings 2024 first round pick Devin Carter could fill a similar role for this team, which would decrease the uniqueness of Ellis' value.