Something very wrong is going on in Sacramento.
The Kings, 6-14, are bad, as usual, but they aren’t trying to win games at least. Or are they?
In their most recent defeat, the Kings started the following lineup: De’Aaron Fox, George Hill, Garrett Temple, Skal Labissiere, and Zach Randolph.
If you haven’t already figured out the issue, allow me to explain.
The Kings are starting three players over the age of 30. George Hill, Garrett Temple, and Zach Randolph. The Kings have six players under the age of 24 not starting. The Kings have one of their best players coming off the bench because Dave Joerger would rather start veterans who are not helping Sacramento win games.
Buddy Hield is being ruined.
Heild was the top piece in the albeit underwhelming return the Kings received when they traded DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans at the All-Star break last season. The 23-year old guard is a great scorer with one of the best 3-point shots in the league. He has also shown flashes as a defender on and off the ball. Still, he remains on the bench in Dave Joerger’s outrageously fluid rotation.
Hield started the first seven games of the season for the Kings. He only averaged 23.6 minutes per game that he started in, just 0.9 more minutes than he averages now coming off the bench. While he certainly struggled through the first seven games, so did many of his teammates. Hell, look at George Hill, a player the Kings had no business signing after drafting De’Aaron Fox with their first-round pick, is still struggling to make an impact 17 games into the season. He is playing over 26 minutes per game and averaging just 9.1 points and 2.5 assists per contest. For comparison, Buddy Hield is averaging 12.4 points and 2.7 assists in just 23.1 minutes per game.
Garrett Temple, another veteran stealing minutes from the younger Hield, is averaging just 7.3 points and 1.6 assists in 25 minutes per game. Sure, Temple is a fantastic locker room guy and still has value on the court, but there is no reason he should be starting over Hield.
Hield possesses a great deal of promise. He has the true potential to be a great scorer in this league, due to his outstanding 3-point shot and his ability to get open by moving off the ball. If put in the right role, Hield can be a 20+ point per game scorer, while continuing to develop on the defensive end.
Career-high 7 threes… @buddyhield was ??? Saturday night! pic.twitter.com/NmxL6BvBDG
— Kings on NBCS (@NBCSKings) November 26, 2017
The Kings should be starting him anyway, as he and Fox are Sacramento’s backcourt of the future. The two should compliment each other beautifully, with Fox’s ability to distribute and attack the basket, and Hield’s niche of shooting the long ball. The two-man unit of Fox and Hield has spent just 181 minutes on the court. The Kings most used two-man lineup of George Hill and Zach Randolph has played 331 minutes together.
Buddy Hield could very well be the Kings best player down the line. He and Fox certainly are their two best pieces moving forward, and the Kings have a few other nice pieces in Bogdan Bogdanovic, Willy Cauley Stein, and Skal Labissiere.
Fox has not been a mainstay in the lineup himself, as he has started just six games this season. Fox, 19, is in the same boat as Hield. The Kings are wasting his time and potential by not handing him the reigns of the team.
It’s time for the Kings to stop messing up. They had a good draft in the eyes of many in the offseason, and possess multiple young pieces that could play a role in their franchise moving forward. It is up to Dave Joerger to ensure that the likes of Fox and Hield play the minutes they deserve, and if he doesn’t, then a change needs to be made.
