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The Sacramento Kings ended their season last Friday. Falling to the New Orleans Pelicans in a Play-In battle for the eighth seed, the team will have to endure the heartbreak of being one win short of a playoff appearance. This is probably why De’Aaron Fox continues to contemplate what could have been. Speaking to the media, Fox opened up on the Kings’ recently-concluded campaign.
“I look at what we have, and I think what could have been,” Fox said, per Sactown 1140’s Brenden Nunes. “What could we have done better throughout this season? If we make our free throws, we probably have 51 wins…it’s the small things.”
The Kings shot just 74.5% from the charity stripe, making them the worst free-throw shooting team this season. Keegan Murray led the team with 83.1%. However, a number of Sacramento players, such as Fox (73.8%), Domantas Sabonis (70.4%) and Trey Lyles (70%) finished the season below the 75% mark. It also doesn’t help how Fox and Sabonis, being the Kings’ two best players, average the most free throw attempts per game among everyone on the roster (5.7 and 5.1 attempts, respectively).
The struggles at the line were so prevalent that Mike Brown had to call out his players early in January. Following a game where the Kings made just 10 out of their 17 free throw attempts, Brown lamented the team’s woes during the press conference.
“For us to be 30th (in free-throw percentage) with the shooters we have on this team, it’s not good,” the head coach said.
De’Aaron Fox and the Kings can still grow
Nevertheless, De’Aaron Fox knows that he can still improve moving forward. The speedy point guard made it known that he works on his craft daily and that there’s still room to grow as a player.
“I definitely feel like it,” Fox said, addressing a question on whether or not there’s another level he can reach in terms of performance. “(I’m) 26, (I’ve) been in the league for seven years. I feel like I’ve gotten better every year. So why would I think that my growth just stunts now?”
“I still have things that I can work towards. I’ve had stretches where I looked really good, I’ve had stretches where I wasn’t good…I work at my game. I work at my game every day,” he added. (per NBC Sports’ Morgan Ragan)
“I don’t feel like I’m done growing as a player.”
De’Aaron Fox on his game and where he is at in his career. pic.twitter.com/eQHt27n5ta
— Morgan Ragan (@momoragan) April 22, 2024
This season, the left-handed guard averaged 26.6 points, 5.6 assists and 4.6 rebounds per game. On the defensive side of the ball, Fox (and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) led the entire league in steals with 2.0 a game.
Last year, Fox steered the Kings to their first playoff appearance since the 2005-06 season. Sacramento managed to take the Golden State Warriors to a seven-game series in the first round.
It may have been a much quieter season this time around, but as the point guard stated, he still has space for growth. The same goes for the team. Sacramento may need offseason fixes, but they’ve shown upside as well. This season, the Kings ranked among the 10 best teams in points per game (116.6, 9th) and assists per game (28.3, 7th). Additionally, they made 14.4 three-pointers a game — 4th best in the entire league.
If the Kings improve on their flaws and build on their strengths, then another playoff berth may just occur in 2025.
More must-reads:
- Knicks guard joins NBA royalty in closeout win against 76ers
- Clippers will need to fight for their playoff lives in Game 6 without injured star
- The 'Highest career PPG in the playoffs' quiz
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