Sacramento Kings coach Mike Brown wants Domantas Sabonis to shoot how many 3-pointers?
Kings coach Mike Brown is encouraging All-NBA center Domantas Sabonis to shoot more 3-pointers this season.
A lot more.
Brown revealed his plan for Sabonis as the Kings prepared for Wednesday’s preseason opener against the Golden State Warriors at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. Brown said he wants Sabonis to shoot three to five times as many 3-pointers as he did last season, when he hit 37.9% on 1.1 attempts per game.
“He’s worked really hard on it,” Brown said. “He shot it at a really high percentage for the volume that he did take them, so, hey, increase a little bit more. I’m not saying go from one to 13 or 14 a game, but you go from one to three or five a game and see where you are. See how the defense plays you, and if he’s going to shoot it at the same clip or at least close to the same clip, now it’s just going to create more space for everybody because his man has to step up a little higher to take away the open catch-and-shoot 3.”
Brown said he spoke to Sabonis about his 3-point shooting over the summer as the Kings formulated a plan to integrate six-time All-Star DeMar DeRozan into an offense that already features De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter and Keegan Murray. DeRozan is one of the league’s best midrange scorers, but he has averaged only 1.6 3-point attempts over 15 NBA seasons, so the Kings have to make sure they have enough outside shooting to maintain proper floor spacing.
Finding balance
Brown thinks Sabonis can help by shooting more 3s, but he doesn’t want to interfere with his natural instincts as a playmaker.
“I’ve talked to him about it and he’s been working on it, but I’m not going to continue pressing him because I don’t want to put pressure on him to where it’s taking away from what his strength is,” Brown said. “What I told him is, instead of half rolling 12 to 15 times a game, maybe half roll nine to 12 times a game and the other three are sometimes pop all the way back to 3.
“It’s a fine balance when you half roll because it makes it a little bit harder for ballhandlers who are pretty creative in Malik and DeMar and Fox to be able to get downhill and score and/or spray it, so picking or choosing where that balance is between the half roll and the pop (out) is something we’re going to concentrate a little bit more on this year.”
Sabonis was asked about his conversations with Brown following Monday’s practice.
“That’s definitely true, yeah,” Sabonis said. “I’m trying to find moments in the game where I can do that while also trying to find a balance with my playmaking, so as the preseason games go on, that’s where I’ll try to test those waters. In the past when I have shot them, it’s a decent clip, so I’ve just got to shoot them more with confidence.”
Passing and shooting
Sabonis averaged 19.4 points, a career-high 13.7 rebounds and a career-best 8.2 assists last season to earn All-NBA Third Team honors for the second year in a row. He acknowledged that finding the right balance between passing and shooting could be an adjustment for a player who finished sixth in the NBA and second among centers in assists last season.
“It’s tough because sometimes when I do pass up a shot, it will lead to another play for someone else or an easy bucket, so I just have to find the rhythm,” Sabonis said.
Sabonis has never averaged more than 2.6 3-point attempts in eight seasons since coming out of Gonzaga as the No. 11 pick in the 2016 NBA draft. Sabonis was a streaky 3-point shooter last season, shooting 40% in October, 43.8% in November, 25% in December, 71.4% in January, 30.8% in February, 28.6% in March and 22.2% in April, but his teammates are confident he can do it.
“Last year he shot it at a pretty good clip with limited attempts, so statistically you want him to shoot more,” Murray said. “It’s going to be big on him just to find his spots on the floor because obviously he’s really good inside, so him getting confidence out there will help our offense a lot.”
This story was originally published October 8, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
