Remember the chants of Light! The! Beam!? The bravado of theatre that re-ignited the love of basketball in the city of Sacramento. After practically every home win, fans chanted those words as a selected player would push down on a massive Sacramento Kings-themed button and ray a purple light through the arena roof and into the sky. It was a post-game come-together between fans, players and, ultimately, community between the four walls of their basketball church. Heck! Even those who left early to beat California traffic, or those just going about their night, were left standing in rally and awe as a purple laser shot into the sky.
Most do still recall, but you wouldn't be amiss to not have. Moments like those were far and few between in the 23-24 season, with the last most notable time of the beam being lit was in the Kings' play-in win vs. Golden State Warriors back in April. However, as honourable as that win was coming against a team that halted their playoff potential in the 22-23 campaign after 17 years away from the spotlight of the postseason, it would remain just that as their season ended at the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans, as they would advance to the playoffs.
Extending those moments from honourable to memorable will be the objective for head coach Mike Brown and co.
Having won 46 games last season—just two fewer than they had two seasons ago, and still falling into the glut of teams in the Western Conference's obscurity when it comes to clinching a season that extends beyond April. A healthy roster and the seismic scoop of DeMar DeRozan in Free Agency, with All-NBA duo De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, should keep them in the chasing pack—whether they are more than that is the question to be answered.
Shooting Guard Conundrums
If Sacramento’s starting five will consist of four of Fox at the point, Sabonis at the 5, DeRozan, and the improving Keegan Murray interchanging in the wing positions, then the corresponding question is, who is the fifth starter?
The shooting guard position was an area of much-divide last season, mainly between Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, and to the end, Keon Ellis due to the late-season injuries to the aforementioned Monk and Huerter but also, more importantly his defensive dynamics. They all offer their pluses that have and should prove impactful as complementary pieces.
Huerter, who has started 134 of 139 games for the Kings over the past two seasons, is currently on the periphery of pre-season training camp after undergoing shoulder surgery. Huerter being the go-to option alongside Fox lends to his 3-point consistency, which, despite slipping to a career-low of 36.1%, remains a preference for coach Brown. Though, Ellis' rise as an effective 3-and-D player, will soften the miss of Huerter in pre-season camp and rival it when he comes back.
The second-year undrafted guard emerged as a credible starting option just after the All-Star break and even more so in the last 15 games of the season, as he elevated the defensive play of the Kings to sixth in the league (108.8) over that game span.
As mentioned, the shooting guard position in this Kings team, especially with the addition of DeRozan, is supplementary in a team that expects to be one of the league’s best offenses.
It is probably why Monk, a leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year before his knee sprain in spring, is more suited to running with the second unit than the first.
The 26-year-old re-signed with the Kings for $78 million over four years, even though he could've sought more money with an influential starting role to boost.
“Being a team player,” Monk said after signing his deal over the summer. “I could have took my money somewhere, but it felt like home here. Letting the organization know early was the least I could do, for sure, because we need a few more pieces and they’re looking for a few more pieces, so I think they’re doing their job.”
Monk’s selfless role off the court was the driving force in the Kings acquiring DeRozan, and though with aims of aspiring to be a starter, his unselfish responsibilities on it are why the Kings can have such security in remaining competitive when their stars rest, knowing a guy who averaged career highs of 15.4 points and 5.1 assists can take a leading role if needed.
Who Handles the Ball and When?
"I was just looking for an opportunity to win at a high level wherever that was going to be... Sac came about, and they were showing interest, like real interest. When I sat back and looked at it, and analyzed the team. Great players. Great coach. I just always remember the last couple years of always seeing them light this damn beam and winning and all that... For sure got a movement. That's definitely one thing you always want to be a part of is a contagious culture of an organization that wants to win. When I looked at all that, I just felt like it fit."
Those were the words of DeRozan last September when speaking on Paul George's podcast (Podcast P with Paul George). It was an insight into where the 35-year-old sees how he wants the winding down years of his career to look—using the word ‘win’ three times.
The six-time NBA All-Star has been the main option on every team he has played for, even the partially re-ignited 2021–2022 Chicago Bulls.
Joining the Kings, even after averaging 24.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists last campaign, will mean a restructuring in his role as a third option behind Fox and Sabonis.
DeRozan adds variety in the Kings' offensive arsenal to work with different strategies in tight conference games. Not only will his isolation game open up the space to maximise the team’s capable perimeter shooters, but it will also allow the chance for coaching to have at least one All-Star calibre player on-court at all times, as well as when it comes to closing out those decisive games in the clutch that split conference positions.
Too often, Fox has been the main handler of the ball in the late edges of a close game, trusted to deliver and has tended to—leading the league in clutch points last season. DeRozan, a notorious clutch-gifted player (finished second in clutch points the last two seasons), can be a secondary pillar when teams scheme to shut the threats of Fox and/or Sabonis in the paint and vice versa.
Breaking Through the Ceiling
In the two seasons that coach Brown has led the Kings, he has done so with stable consistency, with back-to-back seasons above .500 (the threshold for an average W-L record). The last time the organisation did that was from 2004-06 when the Peja Stojaković and Mike Bibby Kings lost in successive first rounds after reaching four consecutive Western Conference Semifinals and Finals.
It was a team that had a ceiling and failed to break through it. Twenty years on, Brown will be tasked with not being labelled that team, one that had the chance to break through their ceiling but were unsuccessful in a period of promise.
The Western Conference, just like then, represents a division convoluted with a glut of teams that could beat each other night-in and night-out. It also does not seem to be vented with an opening. The Oklahoma City Thunder, Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, Pelicans and even Houston Rockets are young to young-ish teams that will only get better with experience. Whilst the Denver Nuggets have gained that experience and will look to harness it until Nikola Jokić calls it quits (which could be whenever he feels like it).
Then there's the Victor Wembanyama factor, who could well be the best player in basketball by next year and lift every player, ala LeBron James, he plays with to undeniable levels.
With the Kings, we are not talking Championships, at least not in the immediate to medium term. But, as we draw it back, it's making those Lights! The! Beam! moments more constant and even more memorable.
A down-year, not too dissimilar to last season, may set the franchise to a middling standard that had them 17 years removed from the playoffs sandwiched between the days of Stojaković and Bibby and Fox and Sabonis.
