It’s time once again for our Season Review series, in which we look back at how the season went for each Sacramento Kings player. We begin with Domantas Sabonis.
The Sacramento Kings and skilled big men seem to go hand in hand. Throughout our nearly 40 year history, the Kings have had quite a few big men who were highly skilled not just as scorers and rebounders, but also as passers: Chris Webber, Vlade Divac, Brad Miller, DeMarcus Cousins and now Domantas Sabonis. But Sabonis’ 2023-24 campaign was exemplary for a myriad of reasons and stacks up among the all-time seasons in Sacramento history. Let’s just take a quick look at the numbers:
- 13.7 rebounds per game and 1,120 rebounds total (both 1st in the NBA and 1st in Sacramento-era history)
- 8.2 assists per game (6th in the NBA and 4th in Sacramento-era history) and 673 assists total (4th in the NBA and 4th in Sacramento-era history)
- 26 triple-doubles (1st in the NBA, 1st in Sacramento-era history. With 58 career triple-doubles, Sabonis now ranks 11th all time in NBA history, one fewer than Larry Bird at 10)
- 77 double-doubles, including 62 consecutive (Post-Merger NBA records)
- 19.6 points per game on 59.4% from the field and career-high 37.9% from three.
- All 82 games played
It seems incredible that someone who put up these numbers wasn’t named an NBA All-Star and might not make an All-NBA team, but I have a feeling that for Domantas Sabonis the biggest disappointment was simply the fact that the Kings ultimately didn’t make the playoffs.
Domantas Sabonis: “It’s definitely very disappointing how it ended. It’s frustrating. It’s tough to even watch the playoffs knowing that we couldn’t be there fighting.”
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) April 22, 2024
Sabonis’ second full season with the Kings was much like his first, just one step above. He was a better rebounder, a better passer, and a better defender. Unlike last year, he didn’t have to play with a broken thumb and was able to muscle through an entire 82 game season and two Play-In games without missing a beat.
In a Kings season that was marred by inconsistency, Domantas Sabonis stood out with how consistent he was. Nearly every night you could expect the same thing from Domas: a double-double and leading the team in assists. Rarely was he going to be the team’s leading scorer but also rarely could you point to Domas as the reason the Kings lost the game.
Defensively, Domas will never be known as a stopper or true rim protector but his shortcomings on that end of the floor hardly ever have to do with effort, and he made some nice strides this year to provide a positive impact defensively. Last season, players guarded by Sabonis shot about 2.7% better than average and he also fouled too much, leading the league in total Personal Fouls. This season, opponents actually shot 2.0% worse than average when guarded by Sabonis, and he posted the lowest foul rate of his entire career. Sabonis doesn’t have the necessary length to truly be a game changing defensive player, but he also isn’t the complete sieve that some make him out to be.
If there are any true shortcomings in Domas’ game it may be in the fact that despite arguably being the Kings best overall player, he’s not the kind of guy that will simply take over a game. When the Kings needed a bucket this season, it was usually up to De’Aaron Fox or Malik Monk to create some offense. You can see this in the Kings scoring by quarter as Sabonis led the team in scoring in the 1st quarter (6.1) and then the drop-off in each subsequent quarter as defenses tighten up (5.2 in the 2nd, 4.8 in the 3rd and then just 3.6 in the 4th).
Sabonis doesn’t have the same skillset to become instant offense when needed, and you could see his efficiency drop significantly during the last stretch of the season without Malik Monk. In those final 10 games without Monk as another option to draw attention from the defense, Sabonis averaged 17.2 points on just 51.5% from the field with 7.4 assists and 3.6 turnovers a game. Monk in particular had excellent rapport with Sabonis in the Pick and Roll game, and allowed the Kings to keep Sabonis on the floor with one of Fox or Monk at all times. No player may feel Monk’s absence more than Sabonis should he leave in Free Agency this summer.
Offensively, Sabonis still has room to grow if he continues to dedicate time to developing his jump shot. It’s not that Domas is even a bad shooter, more that he is very selective about when he shoots a jumper, and it’s usually only when he’s completely wide open. By percentage, Domas is extremely efficient from any range shooting 72.1% from 0-3 feet, 52.1% from 3-10 feet, 45.9% from 10-16 feet, 47.1% from 16 feet to the three point line and 37.9% from three. But 80.5% of his total attempts come from just 10 feet or closer, making him fairly predictable. I’d like to see him open it up a little bit more and get more confident with his jumper as his career progresses, even if it means decreased overall efficiency, because a Sabonis that you have to guard outside of just the paint would open tons of options for everyone else on the Kings.
Domas also needs to become more consistent from the line. The Free throw line was a problem for the Kings all year as they finished dead last in the league in percentage, and Domas’ decreased efficiency was a big reason. Last season he shot 74.2% from the line while this year he shot just 70.4%, his worst effort since his rookie campaign. As one of only two players who consistently got to the line for the Kings, these can’t be wasted opportunities.
For Sabonis though, the biggest questions coming into this season were how he’d do in the Playoffs after having a poor series against the Warriors the prior year. Unfortunately he never got to fully answer those questions but he did at least get a chance at redemption against the very same Warriors squad in the first Play-In game and he answered the call, scoring 16 points to go with 12 rebounds and 7 assists. Those numbers aren’t far off from what he averaged in that series a year ago (16.4 points, 11 rebounds and 4.7 assists) but it was the way he carried himself on the court that stood out. He was aggressive when he needed to be, first on the glass and boxing out, and as always setting up his teammates for success. He came in ready from the start and unafraid of the moment.
For his part, Domantas Sabonis is never satisfied, despite the numbers and accolades that come his way. He told the Athletic shortly before the All-Star break:
There’s a lot to get to work on. I know the numbers may show otherwise, but I feel like there’s so much left where I can help my teammates on the court and win games. That’s exciting as a player. Like, if I work on this, and I can do this in this situation, then that’s going to help the team. I’m always thinking of that.
With that kind of mentality, the best is hopefully yet to come for Domantas Sabonis and the Sacramento Kings.
