Listen, the best teams are the ones that consistently blow opponents out. But still, it is important (and can take you pretty far) to be able to finish close contests. Last season, the Sacramento Kings were a respectable 12th in clutch time net rating (+2.7, per NBA.com). However, that was before their monster offseason. This year, they project to be one of the best late game teams in the association, which makes them a pretty dangerous team in the Western Conference.
De'Aaron Fox
Even before this offseason, the Kings had a great option to close out games for them in the ninth inning in De'Aaron Fox. Fox famously won the Clutch Player of the Year in 2022-23 – the first year the award was handed out.
Fox continued his late-game heroics this past season, scoring the fifth-most points in the clutch (defined by NBA.com as "the final five minutes of regulation or overtime when the score is within five points") time in the NBA last season (122 points).
However, even with all the heavy lifting Fox did down the stretch, the Kings were only 20-19 in clutch games last season (good for 13th in win percentage). It just goes to show that one man can't do everything, even in clutch moments. But now, Fox will have a clutch partner in crime to power through these moments with together.
DeMar DeRozan
Last year, DeMar DeRozan scored 182 points in the clutch. The only player to score more points than him was Stephen Curry (189), who ended up winning the Clutch Player of the Year award (the only player other than Fox to win the award).*
(*Sidebar: I find it ironic that Curry and Fox are the only players to win the Clutch Player of the Year thus far, and Fox is also the up to this point.)
In 2022-23, when Fox won the award, DeRozan was second in total points (159) in clutch time as well. He was also second in 2021-22. DeRozan has been in at least in the top four in that category every year since 2019-20.
Year | DeRozan Clutch Time Total Points Rank |
|---|---|
2023-24 | 2nd |
2022-23 | 2nd |
2021-22 | 2nd |
2020-21 | 3rd |
2019-20 | 4th |
Neither DeRozan nor Fox needs to be the best clutch player in the league for the Kings to win a lot of close games in 2024-25. They just need to take turns putting the team on their back. If they can do that correctly, the Kings will be one of the best crunch-time teams in basketball. As history tells us, excelling in that area can go a long way.
Last year, the two teams that made the NBA Finals (the Dallas Mavericks and Boston Celtics) were both in the top four in win percentage and net rating. So, while great teams usually win a ton of games by wide margins, they also finish the job on the close ones, too.