Inside look at Kings’ lineup change going into preseason game vs. Golden State Warriors
The Kings are making a change to their starting lineup going into Sunday’s preseason home opener against the Golden State Warriors at Golden 1 Center.
Coach Mike Brown said Chris Duarte will start in place of Kevin Huerter when the Kings face the Warriors in a rematch of last season’s first-round playoff series. Brown called the move an “experiment” following Saturday’s practice, saying he likes Duarte’s defense and wants to see him in a lineup with former Indiana Pacers teammate Domantas Sabonis.
“Duarte will start tomorrow in Kevin’s spot,” Brown said. “It’s normal, for me at least, trying to experiment and take a different look at different guys with different lineups.”
The Kings acquired Duarte in July in a trade that sent two second-round draft picks to the Pacers. The trade came 17 months after the Kings made a blockbuster deal for Sabonis.
Duarte, a 6-foot-5 guard who came out of Oregon as the 13th pick in the 2021 NBA draft, was an All-Rookie Second Team selection in 2022 before injuries limited him to 46 games last season. Duarte averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals as a rookie in Indiana, shooting 36.9% on 4.6 3-point attempts per game. He formed a strong bond with Sabonis, who invited Duarte to his homes in Napa and Los Angeles for a few weeks over the summer.
Duarte, playing his first game in 209 days, had a rough preseason debut with the Kings, going 2 of 9 from the field and 0 of 6 from 3-point range to finish with four points in a loss to the Toronto Raptors. He was much better in Wednesday’s 109-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, scoring 10 points on 4-of-4 shooting with two 3-pointers.
Brown said he wants to see Duarte play with Sabonis, just as he did with Sasha Vezenkov when Keegan Murray was out with a thumb injury against the Lakers.
“That’s kind of the reason I started Sasha in the last game because Sasha plays really well off the ball, passes and cuts and moves and all that other stuff,” Brown said. “And so, to be able to throw him out there with Domas to see what it looks like, to be able to throw Duarte out there with Domas to see what it looks like — because they’re two new guys and they haven’t really had a chance to do that — it’s something that I’m going to look at as well.”
Huerter’s offense
Huerter started 75 games at shooting guard last season, helping the Kings win 48 games to secure the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference. He averaged 15.2 points per game while shooting 40.2% from 3-point range, but he has yet to find his rhythm this preseason, scoring a total of five points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field and 1-of-6 shooting from long distance over the first two games.
Huerter’s offense will come, but Brown is more focused on improving the team’s defense.
“One of the things that we really are emphasizing is our physicality,” Brown said. “I’ve explained to you guys a couple times, ‘Hey, when you come across and help out with our help defense, you’ve got to take a hit in the chest,’ which means you’ve got to go vertical or you’ve got to take a charge. On the ball in pick-and-roll situations, you’ve got to get up into that ball and you’ve got to get over the screen at the same time.
“What we’re doing as a group — and not just Kevin, there’s a few of our guys who are doing this — we’re staying here, we hear the command, so we’re sending the ball to the screen, which is where the help is, but then as the screen’s coming, we’re not getting into the ball to skinny up and get over the top. We’re chasing the ball, and now that ball’s turning downhill, and now you’ve got Domas there and you have our other defenders trying to play 5 on 4. Most teams are really long or really athletic, and it makes it tough. So I have to put more pressure on our guards to help us better in the pick-and-roll so we don’t face that pressure getting downhill, and now teams are getting spray 3s and lobs at the rim and (we end up) being 30th in the NBA in pick-and-roll defense.”
Duarte’s defense
Brown recently said he didn’t anticipate any changes to last season’s starting lineup, but on Saturday he didn’t rule out the possibility of starting Duarte when the regular season begins Oct. 25.
“I’ll consider anything — anything that I think will help us,” Brown said. “Sometimes when you take risks or you do things differently, they can backfire and mud can be on your face, and I’ll be the first one to say it was my decision, because every decision I make will be to help this team be better.”
Brown went on to explain what he liked about Duarte’s defense against the Lakers.
“He did exactly the things I’m asking,” Brown said. “If you go back and watch the tape, anytime he was involved in a pick-and-roll on the ball, he got up, he skinnied up and he went over the top with the ballhandler. He was involved in a DHO (dribble handoff) with what we call a hot guy, a guy who can shoot it. He got into his body and he rode him over the DHO and he got his deflector hand there and almost got a steal.
“Transition defense, I think it was Christian Wood who tried to post him up. Boom, (Duarte) hit him, stood him up and then he got in front and got a steal because they tried to throw it in late. … Those aspects defensively, when it comes to being physical defensively, he did very, very well. He did it at a high level and that’s what we’re going to expect from all of our guys throughout the course of the year.”
This story was originally published October 15, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
