This iteration of the Sacramento Kings loves passing the basketball. Last season, the team finished second in the NBA in passes made per game (per NBA.com). So, in the spirit of our team's appreciation for sharing the rock (and considering this is a quiet time during the news cycle), we figured we would take a look at the team's all-time career assist leaderboard. And after that, we'll see if anyone on this current team can climb up that list next season.
Top 10 Sacramento Kings Players in Career Assists
To be clear, we are looking at assists tallied while being a part of this organization. So, that means we are looking at players who have been on the Sacramento Kings, the Kansas City Kings, the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, the Cincinnati Royals, and the Rochester Royals. Also, we aren't factoring in assists earned outside of their time with us. It is only the assists that they produced while wearing one of our uniforms.
Now, without further ado, here are the top 10 Kings (and Royals) in career assists (data provided by Basketball Reference):
Player Name | Career Assists |
|---|---|
Oscar Robertson | 7,731 |
Sam Lacey | 3,563 |
Tiny Archibald | 3,499 |
De'Aaron Fox | 2,870 |
Reggie Theus | 2,809 |
Mike Bibby | 2,580 |
Larry Drew | 2,409 |
Phil Ford | 2,322 |
Bob Davies | 2,250 |
Mitch Richmond | 2,128 |
As the chart above illustrates, the all-time leader in assists (by a massive margin) is Oscar Robertson, who tallied 7,731 career assists during his ten years with the Cincinnati Royals.
Interestingly enough, he, Sam Lacey, and Tiny Archibald (the top 3 all-time leaders in assists) all played for us before the team moved to Sacramento in 1985. The player on this list with the most assists who actually played in Sacramento is our current starting point guard, De'Aaron Fox (2,870 assists).
Mike Bibby – the Kings point guard during their most successful run of the 21st century – is sixth all-time in career assists with 2,580 assists.
How Much Higher Can De'Aaron Fox Climb Up This List Next Season?
While it will be years before Fox catches Robertson, he does have a chance of climbing all the way up to second by the end of the 2024-25 season. Assuming Fox plays 75 games next year, he'd need to average 9.2 APG to catch Lacey. This is a pretty tall task, though, as Fox's current career high in APG is 7.3 (it's only 6.1 since Domantas Sabonis joined the team in 2022).
If Fox plays 75 games and averages the APG he had last year (5.6), he'll be at 3,290 assists, which will keep him at fourth all-time (but set him up nicely to surpass both Lacey and Archibald in 2025-26).
Can Domantas Sabonis Enter The Top 10 Next Season?
Despite Fox being the team's starting point guard, Sabonis is the team's leading assist man (8.2 APG). But since he's only been with the Kings for 2.5 years, he isn't in the top 10 in career assists (he is sixth all-time in APG, though). As of right now, Sabonis has 1,333 career assists as a King.
For Sabonis to surpass Mitch Richmond and enter the top 10, he'll need to average at least 10.6 APG over 75 games. If he plays all 82 games (like he did last year), he'll need to average 9.7 APG.