I try not to get too caught up on labeling but it seems that Sabonis is most productive in the high post as a facilitator. Of course with an average at best 3 shot it's means he is likely to draw opponents into the paint more than he is to stretch the floor after the pass. So it seems that the best complement for him is a big who can play low post AND stretch the floor with above average 3 point shooting. So on paper HB is the guy, but he does not always play his best against larger guys. For better or worse Metu COULD be that guy but has yet to shoot consistently from 3 and overall does not play like an NBA starter.
Is Sabonis's best position PF or C?
- Thread starter ockingsfan
- Start date
Quite possibly, but hard for us to know when he hasn't seen much action. You'd hope the coaches have a pulse on this in practice.
He's got great size & length:
Even his vertical, lane agility, and 3/4 sprint isn't too bad for a guy that size (fun fact: his standing vertical + standing reach is 11'7.5" and his max vertical + standing reach is 12'1.5". That's some verticality).
Shotblocking has always been his calling card. Per 36 min, he averaged...
He's got great size & length:
- 248 lbs
- 6'11.25" w/o shoes
- 7'4 wingpsan
- 9'4.5" standing reach
Even his vertical, lane agility, and 3/4 sprint isn't too bad for a guy that size (fun fact: his standing vertical + standing reach is 11'7.5" and his max vertical + standing reach is 12'1.5". That's some verticality).
Shotblocking has always been his calling card. Per 36 min, he averaged...
- 4.0 blocks per 36 min during his last year in college (871 total minutes)
- 3.0 blocks per 36 min last year in the g-league (292 total minutes)
- 2.4 blocks per 36 min last year in the NBA regular season (120 total minutes)
- 4.1 blocks per 36 min this year in the NBA pre season (26 total minutes)
Thinking about this more, it's highly unlikely we'd be able to sign two of these players even when moving Monk & Holmes for cap space. I think what makes the most sense is for us to trade...
Richaun Holmes
for
Mason Plumlee
2023 UTA 2nd
This takes our projected 2023 cap space from ~$19 mil to ~$30 mil. Allowing us to go after a Jerami Grant, PJ Washington, Grant Williams, Cam Johnson, etc. while picking up a potential early 2nd round pick (if the Jazz decide to actually start tanking anytime soon). We'd head into next season with the following players/picks under contract...
PG - Fox / Mitchell / Ellis
SG - Huerter / Monk
SF - Murray / Moneke
PF - Okpala
C - Sabonis / Queta
Picks - 2023 SAC 1st / 2023 IND 2nd / 2023 SAC 2nd / 2023 UTA 2nd
...and if we're fortunate, we can add one of Grant, Washington, Williams, Johnson, etc. to the core.
Richaun Holmes
for
Mason Plumlee
2023 UTA 2nd
This takes our projected 2023 cap space from ~$19 mil to ~$30 mil. Allowing us to go after a Jerami Grant, PJ Washington, Grant Williams, Cam Johnson, etc. while picking up a potential early 2nd round pick (if the Jazz decide to actually start tanking anytime soon). We'd head into next season with the following players/picks under contract...
PG - Fox / Mitchell / Ellis
SG - Huerter / Monk
SF - Murray / Moneke
PF - Okpala
C - Sabonis / Queta
Picks - 2023 SAC 1st / 2023 IND 2nd / 2023 SAC 2nd / 2023 UTA 2nd
...and if we're fortunate, we can add one of Grant, Washington, Williams, Johnson, etc. to the core.
The offense moves through him and Fox. They make the inside/outside game work.
Sabonis is strong and has great foot work. I love the way he uses his body underneath.
He is very skilled and we need to keep him on the floor as much as he can take.
It is okay to try some different combos depending on the opposition.
The Kings are deeper than they have been in 10 years.
Sabonis is strong and has great foot work. I love the way he uses his body underneath.
He is very skilled and we need to keep him on the floor as much as he can take.
It is okay to try some different combos depending on the opposition.
The Kings are deeper than they have been in 10 years.
He’s a perfectly fine Center in most matchups in the modern NBA.
He matches up fine with the more stronger and bigger centers because he is faster and more skilled than them and can shake them even in drop coverage. Usually during the season he scored a lot against drop coverage or man coverage.
The smaller/skinnier but more athletic bigs he can easily overpower.
Looney and Green are tough matchups for him because he is neither stronger or faster than either of them. So they can contest everything he does…but that is just one matchup from one team.
Most teams can’t throw that combo at him and he is a confident middy away from cooking their whole scheme.
Domas is perfectly fine as your starting center. He lost the boards tonight, but he also won the boards in some games in this series. So no point overreacting.
Kings need a backup center and more wing players. Not deciding whether Domas is at the right position.
There is very few actual centers that would make sense next to Domas unless Domas starts making threes. Which he might..but not today.
Actually, one of the only centers I think is a natural fit with Domas is his former partner Myles Turner. People seem to assume they had to have been a poor pairing because they wanted to trade one of them but that wasn’t really the case. Carlisle likes guard centric offenses. Domas/Turner wasn’t similar to Fox/Tyrese where one had to go for the other to flourish.
A switchable big that can protect the hoop and space the floor is ideal next to Domas. Maybe somebody like Wendell Carter Jr who I think is underrated as a switch big(despite his bulk) and rim protector, but is also starting becoming more of a floor spacer. Beast of a rebounder too…but we’re talking very few guys that make sense.
But he’s a 90’s and aughts PF. He’s a modern Center. A underperforming series doesn’t change that.
He matches up fine with the more stronger and bigger centers because he is faster and more skilled than them and can shake them even in drop coverage. Usually during the season he scored a lot against drop coverage or man coverage.
The smaller/skinnier but more athletic bigs he can easily overpower.
Looney and Green are tough matchups for him because he is neither stronger or faster than either of them. So they can contest everything he does…but that is just one matchup from one team.
Most teams can’t throw that combo at him and he is a confident middy away from cooking their whole scheme.
Domas is perfectly fine as your starting center. He lost the boards tonight, but he also won the boards in some games in this series. So no point overreacting.
Kings need a backup center and more wing players. Not deciding whether Domas is at the right position.
There is very few actual centers that would make sense next to Domas unless Domas starts making threes. Which he might..but not today.
Actually, one of the only centers I think is a natural fit with Domas is his former partner Myles Turner. People seem to assume they had to have been a poor pairing because they wanted to trade one of them but that wasn’t really the case. Carlisle likes guard centric offenses. Domas/Turner wasn’t similar to Fox/Tyrese where one had to go for the other to flourish.
A switchable big that can protect the hoop and space the floor is ideal next to Domas. Maybe somebody like Wendell Carter Jr who I think is underrated as a switch big(despite his bulk) and rim protector, but is also starting becoming more of a floor spacer. Beast of a rebounder too…but we’re talking very few guys that make sense.
But he’s a 90’s and aughts PF. He’s a modern Center. A underperforming series doesn’t change that.
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Sabonis Murray and Fox are set at the starting lineup. So, the only positions to take the Kings to another level is Barnes and Huerter. Those two positions need to be upgraded to guys with length that can help out Sabonis on rebounding. A prefer a guy that can block shots and rebound...like that of Jaren Jackson Jr. Barnes doesn't have any impact on the defensive side and that is a problem. Sure, we have Murray and he will be better...but I think it's not bad to upgrade the SF position to impact the overall team game than just shooting like Barnes did. The same with Huerter...he's a 50/50 for me as far as trading. You like his ability to shoot but his size, lack of strength on defense and rebound is a problem.
Well remember Stephen Adams tore him up also. Right now Sabonis is a bit of a tweener. He can get dominated like he did in game 5 and 7 against some centers and he offers limited defensive presence. Ideally Sabonis can learn to shoot the 3 and 17-18 ft shots and becomes a Draymond type facilitator at the 4.
