Kings mailbag: Haliburton leads Rookie of the Year race? Team shooting fewer 3s?
The Kings created some excitement in Sacramento during the opening week of the NBA season, going 3-1 in their first four games with two wins over the Denver Nuggets and one over the Phoenix Suns.
Buddy Hield won a game with an overtime buzzer-beater, De’Aaron Fox took over in key stretches and first-round draft pick Tyrese Haliburton emerged as an early candidate for Rookie of the Year. Coach Luke Walton cautions that the Kings have a long way to go in their journey, but he is pleased to see them playing with the intensity, effort and togetherness needed to compete on a nightly basis.
Even with all this winning, Kings fans have questions. Some want to know how good Haliburton can be. Some want to know why the team isn’t shooting more 3-pointers. One person wants to know what Cory Joseph brings to the team and another wants to know if he will be traded along with Nemanja Bjelica, Harrison Barnes, Jabari Parker and Hield.
Let’s discuss in this week’s Kings mailbag.
Note: Some questions have been edited for length and clarity.
Tyrese Haliburton for Rookie of the Year
@JeffGold81 asks: Who do you think will be Tyrese Haliburton’s biggest competition for Rookie of the Year?
It’s too early to make meaningful projections, but if we had to put together a Week 1 watch list, Haliburton, the No. 12 pick out of Iowa State, would be there with three players from the top of the 2020 NBA Draft.
No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards, No. 2 pick James Wiseman and No. 4 pick Patrick Williams have also enjoyed strong starts to their pro careers. Edwards leads all rookies in scoring at 15.0 points per game for the Minnesota Timberwolves. Wiseman is averaging 12.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks, and has made 5 of 7 (.625) from 3-point range. Williams is averaging 10.8 points for the Chicago Bulls.
Wiseman, in particular, will get tons of attention, but Haliburton might have the earliest of edges over these players in the Rookie of the Year race. The 20-year-old combo guard has demonstrated remarkable poise and impressive instincts for a player his age, making good reads, great passes and big plays at both ends of the floor to help the Kings win games.
“He plays beyond his years and we all have the utmost confidence in him with the ball, even in a tight game like this against a team like Denver,” Fox said following Tuesday’s win over the Nuggets.
Haliburton averaged 10.5 points, 5.3 assists and 2.0 rebounds over his first four games, shooting a sizzling 56% from the field and 50% from 3-point range. He had 21 assists and three turnovers in those contests while playing clutch fourth-quarter minutes to close out wins over the Nuggets and Suns.
Haliburton leads all rookies in minutes and assists and ranks fourth in scoring, blocks and steals. Among rookies who have attempted more than seven shots, he is third in field-goal percentage and fifth in 3-point percentage.
Among NBA leaders leaguewide, Haliburton is tied for first in free-throw percentage (1.000), second in offensive rating (154.9), tied for fourth in assist-to-turnover ratio (7.0), ninth in offensive win shares (0.5), 10th in true shooting percentage (.760) and 11th in effective field-goal percentage (.720).
Pace and space?
@Blockboi2020 asks: With a lightning-quick point guard and tons of shooters on the roster, why are we shooting the fewest 3-pointers in the league and playing at a bottom-10 pace again?
Four games into the season, the Kings are 20th in the NBA in pace (100.99) and 28th in 3-point attempts, averaging 27.5 per game. We explored this subject in greater detail earlier this week, but here’s the short version.
The Kings’ top priority is to get the ball into the paint and attack the rim. They are fifth in the NBA in points in the paint (55.0), up from 16th in 2019-20. Getting inside is also helping them get to the free-throw line. They are sixth in the NBA in free-throw attempts per game (27.8) after ranking 28th (20.3) last season.
Walton said his team will attempt more 3-pointers as defenses begin to collapse to prevent them from getting to the basket. The Kings are 11th in the NBA in 3-point percentage (.373), led by Bjelica (.500), Haliburton (.500), Fox (.400) and Hield (.383), so increased volume could take their offense to another level.
One thing to consider is that the Kings are starting Marvin Bagley III instead of Nemanja Bjelica. Last season Bjelica averaged 27.9 minutes per game, shooting 41.9% on 4.4 3-point attempts per contest. This season he is averaging 16 minutes and 1.5 3-point attempts per game as the Kings try to get younger, more athletic and more versatile defensively.
In Bjelica’s place, the Kings have Bagley, who brings other things to the table but is still developing his outside game. Bagley is shooting 25% on three 3-point attempts per game. He has made 3 of 7 over the past two games after going 0-for-5 to start the season.
Now let’s look at the question about pace. The Kings want to play with greater pace and Walton believes they will as conditioning improves, but I’m not sure he’s focused on pace in the way it is defined as a statistic.
The Kings want to get the ball across halfcourt as quickly as possible and attack defenses before they get set. When those opportunities aren’t there, they want to spread the floor and hold their spacing, giving them lanes to drive, dish or kick out.
“What we have is the goal and the concept that we want to aggressively attack the rim,” Walton said. “If we’re doing that, we want to take layups first, and if defenses are collapsing, then we want to kick out for 3s.”
Trade possibilities
@sac_kings_daily asks: Do you think the Kings will look to trade veterans like Nemanja Bjelica, Jabari Parker and Cory Joseph because they will all enter free agency or have very little guaranteed money? Also, could Harrison Barnes or Buddy Hield be traded so the Kings only have young players under contract for the 2021-22 season?
Those are all possibilities Kings general manager Monte McNair could consider as we move closer to the March 25 NBA trade deadline.
Parker and Bjelica are both on expiring contracts. Joseph’s $12.6 million salary for the 2021-22 season includes only $2.6 million in guaranteed money. Bjelica and Joseph could be attractive options for playoff contenders looking to add pieces at the trade deadline.
McNair could try to move Hield and Barnes as well depending on the team’s trajectory. Hield is in the first year of a four-year, $86 million contract with up to $20 million more in incentives. Barnes is in the second year of a four-year, $85 million deal. The Kings value both players and will need them in the event of a playoff run, but if they fall out of contention McNair could look for opportunities to get younger and create more financial flexibility.
Questioning Cory Joseph
@streetsavvyGMG asks: Respectfully, can you help me understand what Cory Joseph brings to the roster?
Joseph isn’t flashy and probably won’t be part of the team’s plans beyond this season, but he is a respected 11-year veteran who still brings a lot to a team.
Joseph is averaging 8.5 points, 2.3 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks in 23 minutes per game as the fourth guard behind Fox, Hield and Haliburton. He’s getting to the free-throw line a career-high 2.5 times per game despite playing fewer minutes than he played the past five seasons.
The Kings have nine different lineups with a positive net rating this season. Joseph is a part of seven of them, more than Haliburton (6), Hield (6), Barnes (4), Holmes (4), Fox (3) or Bagley (3).
As a defensive-minded guard who went to the playoffs every year of his career before joining the Kings last season, Joseph has also been a strong mentor for Haliburton.
“The guy who’s taken me under his wing has definitely been Cory Jo,” Haliburton said. “Staying on me at all times to make sure I’m making the right plays and if I don’t, just keeping me going and telling me what he sees, talking to me before, after and during practice.”
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
