The Stat That Will Make or Break Doug Christie's System

The Sacramento Kings are coming into the 2026-27 season with an odd mix of goals and expectations. More wins than last year's 22 would be nice, but realistically, it would be surprising for them to jump up a substantial amount in the win column. And even if the key veterans Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine play well, neither appears to be in the Kings' future plans, meaning big seasons from them would be exciting, but hard to buy into.

That means that it's going to be the little things for the Kings that will be key to watch this season. Mainly the development of the younger players, but it's also going to be a telling year for second-year head coach Doug Christie.

Since he took over as interim head coach, it's been clear that Christie wants the Kings to play a certain style of basketball. Defense is often the first talking point, but the second is generally how he wants the team to move and pass the ball. He talks about how moving the ball gives energy to the offense and the team. The problem was that the Kings weren't necessarily good in that category last season.

It's easy to say that three-point shooting is the most important stat the Kings will need to improve this season, but for Christie specifically, assists and passing could be the more telling stat in his second full season as coach.

A Look Back at Last Season

Oct 15, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (11) looks to pass the ball ball against Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Kings finished last year with 25.5 assists per game, which was good for 20th in the league. Not the worst, but finishing in the bottom half of the league isn't where Christie likely wanted to end up in one of his most important stats (presumably).

Along those lines, they completed 274.2 passes per game, which ranked even worse as the 25th most in the league. So they actually took better advantage of their passes in terms of assists than they theoretically should have.

Part of that is that the Kings had DeMar DeRozan on the team, who is one of the best isolation and shot makers in the league. The other challenging aspect was that Domantas Sabonis only played 19 games and was easily the Kings' best facilitator outside of Russell Westbrook. Westbrook led the team with 6.7 assists, but no one else topped five assists per game other than Dennis Schröder, who was gone at the deadline.

A Look Ahead

Nov 14, 2025; Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA; Arkansas Razorbacks guard Darius Acuff Jr (5) passes to forward Trevon Brazile (7) as Samford Bulldogs guard Keaton Norris (3) defends during the second half at Bud Walton Arena. Arkansas won 79-75. Mandatory Credit: Nelson Chenault-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Kings should have an easier path to higher assist numbers this season, as not only will Sabonis be healthy, but Darius Acuff Jr. comes into the league with vision and passing skills far beyond his age. Acuff is a true point guard who can both score and facilitate, and the duo of him and Sabonis should be able to average 15+ assists together.

But it's going to take more than just Acuff and Sabonis to get to the top half or top of the rankings for passing and assists. Christie will likely be looking for everyone to get involved with moving the ball and creating energy on offense, and his job may depend on the team getting the job done.

There may not be expectations for the Kings as a whole, but all indications are that Perry has some goals in mind for Christie. If he wants to show everyone that he can improve as a coach, he'll need the Kings to lean into his schemes and move the ball substantially more than they did last year.

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