Welcome to the fourth edition of the Sacramento Kings mailbag with Will Z, where I try to find stats and information to answer questions submitted by fans of X (formerly Twitter), Threads, and Instagram.
Be sure to read the previous articles:
Kings’ Mail: Keegan Murray’s expectations for year 3
Kings’ Mail: Is lack of size a problem?
Kings’ Mail: Massive bench rotation
Today’s question comes from Matheus on X:
We know that one of the Kings’ biggest problems is defending the paint and the rim. Sabonis, as tough as he is, is not good at that. How can we defend the paint decently with the current roster?
— Matheus (@mattheuoliver1) August 4, 2024
An often-discussed problem with the Kings is their lack of a true basket protector. While Domantas Sabonis is excellent in many areas, blocking shots is not his strong suit. His career high in blocks came last season with just 0.6 per game.
I want to make it clear that I don’t care if Sabonis doesn’t block shots. He does enough all over the court to make up for that limitation. His points, assists and rebounds are enough to make up for his lack of basket protection.
The Kings coaching staff emphasizes verticality (going straight up to defend a shot), and that’s something Sabonis has improved significantly since being traded to Sacramento. Sabonis’ personal fouls per game show that he’s improved his defense of the basket without committing a foul.
His fouls have decreased each season in Sacramento, going from 3.8 in the 2021-22 partial season, to 3.5 in 2022-23 and 3.0 last season. Foul trouble used to be a talking point with Domas, and now it feels like an afterthought.
The other overlooked aspect of Sabonis’ defensive game is that the Kings never have to double-guard anyone in the post. He’s such a big, strong defender that even if he doesn’t do a perfect job inside, he keeps the Kings from having to compromise their defense by double-guarding.
The good news for the Kings is that they have Alex Len on their roster, who is a hugely underrated defenseman.
ALEX LEN WITH THE BIG BLOCK OF DRAYMOND’S SHOT 😱#NBAPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/dAoAjorWMO
— Bally Sports (@BallySports) April 16, 2023
Last season, Len averaged 0.7 blocks in just 9.3 minutes per game. That equates to 2.7 blocks per 36 minutes, which ranks him 9th among the 354 players who played at least 40 games.
He had a 100.8 defensive rating last season, the second-best in the league (first being new king Jordan McLaughlin). Len is the kind of player who comes in and does what needs to be done, and part of that is being a high-impact defender.
His impact gets lost behind Sabonis and the other stars, but he plays a big role in how the Kings can improve their basket protection in spurts. Add in the addition of the athletic Orlando Robinson and the Kings have an interesting trio of centers who all bring different abilities to the court.
Sacramento will probably never lead the league in blocks or inside field goal percentage. But with Sabonis’ fundamental defense, Len’s superior protection and a renewed offensive wattage, it should be enough to get back into the playoffs.
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