Whether Kevin Hurter is one of the beautiful surprises of the season Kingswith his quality of shooting which is wreaking havoc on Mike Brown’s systems (41% from 3-pointers, in nearly seven attempts per game), he is not however the main architect of their good results (42- 27), because that credit goes mostly to the All-Stars of Sacramento : De’Aaron Fox, but also Domantas Sabonis.
Arrive at ” bag » in February 2022, the Lithuanian is undoubtedly the one who launched the revival of the Californian franchise. With his 19.0 points, 12.6 rebounds and 7.1 assists average, he will not fail to be well placed in the race for the 2023 MVP and he will certainly finish in one of the three best five of the season.
Among the Kings, where the attack revolves around him, we can obviously only praise his qualities and recognize his importance in the Sacramento workforce, as illustrated by the recent remarks of Kevin Huerter.
” It’s a unicorn », consider the rear . ” With his style of play and his leadership, he stimulates everyone around him. He is someone who, during a match, picks up the pace of the game. How often do you see 5 positions bringing the ball up the court? When we get the rebound, we pass the ball to him and everyone runs. He gets crazy when you don’t cut to the basket or when you don’t move enough. »
The Nikola Jokic of the Kings
Like a Nikola Jokic with the Nuggets or a Draymond Green with the Warriors, Domantas Sabonis is the hub of the Kings offensively and he has no trouble putting the good of the collective before the rest. .
” He’s not someone who attacks a game caring about his number of points, believe me “, continues Kevin Huerter. ” He goes there rather by wondering how to lead the attack, be ultra efficient and involve the other players. Then, when the time is right, he will tell himself that he can score baskets. »
A boon for his teammates, who take advantage of this mentality and the game intelligence of Domantas Sabonis to enjoy themselves in attack…
” He is so stimulating », Repeats again Kevin Huerter, one of his privileged partners, in particular in the hand-to-hand. ” With his movement, aggression, and screens, he allows many players on the team to get shots and shoot throughout a match. It’s unlike any other interior in the league. It’s an important driver of our style of play, made of transitions, cuts to the basket, movement, 3-point shots. He is amazing and he really helped me a lot. »
The former Hawks shooter is aiming fairly well because, if he is on the way to completing his best career season (15.0 points on average), it is in particular thanks to the contribution of the facilitator who is Domantas Sabonis, with whom the agreement seems natural and obvious on the floor. Their duo is also one of the reasons for the record offensive efficiency of these Kings version 2022/23: 118.5 points scored out of 100 possessions!
| Domantas Sabonis | Percentage | Bounces | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Crew | GM | Minimum | Shots | 3 points | LF | Off | Def | Early | pd | party | Int | bp | CT | Points |
| 2016-17 | OKAY | 81 | 20 | 39.9 | 32.1 | 65.7 | 0.6 | 3.0 | 3.6 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 5.9 |
| 2017-18 | IND | 74 | 25 | 51.4 | 35.1 | 75.0 | 2.2 | 5.5 | 7.7 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 11.6 |
| 2018-19 | IND | 74 | 25 | 59.0 | 52.9 | 71.5 | 2.5 | 6.8 | 9.3 | 2.9 | 3.2 | 0.7 | 2.2 | 0.4 | 14.1 |
| 2019-20 | IND | 62 | 35 | 54.0 | 25.4 | 72.3 | 3.1 | 9.4 | 12.4 | 5.0 | 3.2 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 0.5 | 18.5 |
| 2020-21 | IND | 62 | 36 | 53.5 | 32.1 | 73.2 | 2.4 | 9.6 | 12.0 | 6.7 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 3.4 | 0.5 | 20.3 |
| 2021-22 * | All Teams | 62 | 35 | 57.3 | 31.2 | 74.1 | 3.2 | 8.9 | 12.1 | 5.2 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 0.4 | 18.9 |
| 2021-22 * | IND | 47 | 35 | 58.0 | 32.4 | 74.0 | 3.3 | 8.8 | 12.1 | 5.0 | 3.1 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 18.9 |
| 2021-22 * | BAG | 15 | 34 | 55.4 | 23.5 | 74.3 | 3.1 | 9.3 | 12.3 | 5.8 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 3.5 | 0.3 | 18.9 |
| 2022-23 | BAG | 67 | 35 | 60.9 | 36.0 | 76.6 | 3.2 | 9.4 | 12.6 | 7.1 | 3.7 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 19.0 |
| Total | 482 | 29 | 54.5 | 32.4 | 73.5 | 2.4 | 7.3 | 9.7 | 4.1 | 3.1 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 15.0 | |
