3 Biggest Impacts of Kings and DeRozan Parting Ways

Clear at the top of the list is the Kings getting back to NBA relevancy beyond the three-point line. Last season, they attempted the fewest threes per game with just 30.2 per game. Making them at a 34% clip, they ended with 10.3 made per contest, which was also dead-last in the league.

To put it simply, the Kings stunk from beyond the arc.

That's not all on DeRozan, but moving on from the mid-range specialist should do wonders to bring the Kings offense back to the modern era. He once again led the league with 6.3 mid-range field goal attempts per game, and the Kings as a team led the league with 14.3 attempts from the area. Expect the Kings to jump to the 38-40 range in three-point attempts with the departure of DeRozan and the addition of more three-point shooters so far this offseason.

Size

For years, the Kings have been undersized on the wings. Before DeRozan signed with the Kings, it was clear that they needed more size around De'Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, but instead they went the route to bring in DeRozan, who isn't small, but he's not a true switchable wing like the Kings needed.

With DeRozan gone, De'Andre Hunter will likely start at the three. DeRozan stands at 6-foot-6 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan, while Hunter is just an inch taller at 6-foot-7 but has a massive 7-foot-2 wingspan. That should significantly help the Kings get more size on the court, as Hunter and Keegan Murray will easily be the lengthiest duo the Kings have had in years (maybe even more so than Murray and Harrison Barnes).

Harder to Win

Even with all the upside of parting ways with DeRozan in terms of setting up the roster for the future, it's going to be harder for the Kings to win games without him. Leaning into the young players is great, but there's no guarantee that Sacramento is going to be able to keep up with more talented teams.

Even in his 17th season, DeRozan was one of the most consistent players the Kings have ever seen. His scoring dipped to below 20 points per game for the first time since the 2012-13 season, but that was more from his decreased field goal attempts than his lack of skill. His attempts dropped from 17 to 13.1 between his first and second year in Sacramento.

He also provided the Kings with easy offense more often than not, as he hit hard bucket after hard bucket. The Kings will turn over the reins to Darius Acuff Jr. and the rest of the young guys, and there could be growing pains that keep the Kings from jumping up in the win column compared to last year. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as the Kings are still early in their rebuild, but it's worth noting that losing a Hall-of-Fame-level talent is going to be hard to make up for on any team, even if there are benefits of more three-point shooting and size.

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