Sabonis Teases Shift: 3 Ways Christie Could Revamp Offense

It will be interesting to see what the new offense looks like under Doug Christie, who will get his first shot at fully implementing what he wants to do, rather than carrying on Mike Brown's system in one way or another last season.

It begs the question, what could that new offense look like for the Kings next year? We don't have any concrete answers like Sabonis and the rest of the team is getting, but we can speculate based on the little bits of information that continue to come out.

1. Higher Three-Point Volume

This feels like the most obvious change for next season. Not only did Christie say last year that he wanted the Kings to shoot upwards of 50 threes per game, but Sacramento finished the year with 35.2 shots from three per game, good for 24th in the league.

I already wrote on how the Kings can increase their three-point volume, so won't go into too much depth here, but the Kings should see a rise in their looks from deep, even if they don't approach 50 per contest.

2. Pushing the Tempo

Just like with the three-point shooting, there have been constant hints that the Kings are going to try and push the pace next year. It was a point of emphasis for Summer League, as head coach Dipesh Mistry brought up the plan to play fast repeatedly throughout the exhibition games. And it is something that Christie also mentioned last season.

Similar to the volume of threes, the Kings have a long way to climb in the ranks for tempo and pace. They finished last season with a pace of 98.91, good for 19th in the league, and averaged 14.3 fastbreak points per contest, 21st in the NBA.

De'Aaron Fox isn't on the roster anymore to single-handedly push the pace with his speed, but the Kings still have Sabonis who can grab a rebound and start a fastbreak on his own and players in Zach LaVine and Malik Monk who can score in seconds if the opportunity arises.

And that's not counting Russell Westbrook, who is still rumored to be a free agent target, and is a one-man fastbreak.

3. More Looks at the Rim

This is where the hints come down to an end, and it's just the numbers from last year that lead to a guess that the Kings will take more shots at the rim.

They finished last season with the fourth best field goal percentage in the restricted area, but only shot 20.3 times in the zone, good for the second-fewest in the association.

The Kings shot a ton in the floater area (19.6 per game, 8th most) and mid-range (15 per game, 1st) last season. That mid-range number will likely still be near the top of the league with DeMar DeRozan on the roster, but getting a little closer to the rim could benefit the Kings in the long run.

We won't know what the changes will be until the season gets here, but it's a good sign that those changes are already underway with a full coaching staff and (mostly) set roster. All that we can hope is that Scott Perry set up Christie for success with players that can pull off his vision.