Kings' Advanced Stats Point to Disastrous Issues, Not Just Defense

The Sacramento Kings' season has gotten off to a rocky start, to say the least. They're 3-7, continue to deal with injuries, and had fans break out in a "We want Keon" chant in a blowout loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. That's not exactly where fans or the players and coaches themselves hoped they would be through the first ten games of the year.

And while the talk of the town has been about defense, the Kings' issues run deeper than not being able to get any stops on that end of the court, as they are also struggling to score way more than anyone thought they would heading into the season.

Coming into today, the Kings have the 27th-ranked defense with a defensive rating of 119.9, which should come as no surprise. But they also boast the league's 23rd-ranked offense with an offensive rating of 111.9, which is a bit shocking. The combination of poor offense and defense gives them a net rating of -8.0, good for the 5th worst mark in the league.

Entering the season, the hope was that they would improve a little on defense and use all of their talent on offense to either stay close in games or outscore teams, but that just hasn't been the case so far.

Keegan Murray's injury has hurt them a lot, and likely more on offense than anyone thought it would. When he went down with his injury, the main talking point was how the Kings would replace his defense, but they've also desperately missed his three-point shooting.

Sacramento is attempting just 30.3 threes per game, second fewest in the league to only the Houston Rockets. They're making them at a 38.3% clip, 9th best, but just don't have the volume to keep up. They're missing about eight three-point attempts per night from Murray that they just haven't been able to make up for.

Oct 24, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (0) gestures after a three point basket at the buzzer of the third quarter against the Utah Jazz at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images | Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images

And they also aren't getting many second-chance opportunities, as they're grabbing 8.8 offensive rebounds per game, second fewest in the NBA. That's a huge part of easy offense that just isn't there for Sacramento right now, and unfortunately, there doesn't seem like a good way to start getting more offensive boards with their lack of size.

On defense, the main struggle last year was defending the three. And this year they've actually done a decent job of defending the deep ball, holding opponents to 36.2% from beyond the arc. That's good for 19th best in the league. Not great, but not being the worst three-point defense is a step in the right direction.

But instead, they've taken a huge step back at defending the paint. Teams are feasting inside against Sacramento, as they've shot 74.6% in the restricted area, the highest mark for any team. We all knew the Kings lacked rim protection, and the numbers are showing that that's even more the case this year than last.

The unfortunate part about the early Kings season is that, from a numbers and stats perspective, there's no easy way out. They aren't just missing shots or having a few defensive lapses. They have so many things that are trending in the wrong direction. They still have time to fix it and right the ship, but they have a lot to work on to do so. I wish it were just on defense, but they need to start putting the ball in the basket more as well.

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