OKC Thunder vs. Sacramento Kings, 2019-20 team preview

Pace:

Fox would probably win the individual 94-foot race of all NBA speedsters. He orchestrated the Kings’ blistering pace. Yet, remarkably they ranked fifth on Basketball Reference. Other than the Hawks and Pelicans I had to stop and think which three teams ranked ahead of them because I thought they ranked third. Eventually, I looked it up and found the Hawks, Bucks, Pelicans and Lakers ranked ahead of them. Although on NBA.com they do rank third.

Expect more of the same this season from the Kings and note Fox only turned the ball over 2.8 times per game despite being responsible for pushing that pace while also dishing dimes.

Perimeter Prowess:

Lost in the shuffle of teams who consistently shot 3-pointers was this Kings squad who ranked fourth in 3-point shooting efficiency. Four players shot over 40 percent and another five, shot over 36 percent. Buddy Hield led the way shooting 7.9 attempts per game hitting at a blistering 42.7 percent.

Bogdanovic shot 36 percent on 5.3 attempts but hit several clutch shots and was lights out at FIBA this summer. Fox worked on improving his shot this offseason even though he connected at a rate of 37.1 percent on 2.9 attempts last season.

It’s not likely Hield, Barnes, Fox or Bogdanovic will fall off. If anything they might be better and in truth their issue was not getting enough 3-point attempts up (ranked 20th).

Youthful star assets:

Although teams like the Nuggets, Suns, Bulls, Pelicans, and Hawks each have solid youthful talents on their squads. To date, only the Nuggets have ascended as an elite team. The Kings took strides last year and should take another this season.

Fox and Bagley are on pace to be special factoring eventually into All-Star status and awards territory. In fact, don’t be surprised if Fox is among the players who garner Most Improved chatter this season.