Six quick thoughts from Kings' 3-3 start to the season

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Never too high, never too low.

After six games, the Sacramento Kings sit at 3-3 on the season. Their three losses are by a combined nine points, including a tough three point loss in Toronto on Saturday night. Their three wins are by a combined 38 points.

We won’t truly know who this team is for a while, but there are some major positives and a few concerns that require a deeper look. Following games, I post six quick thoughts on social media to recap games, so it’s fitting to post six maybe not so quick thoughts on where the Kings stand after six games.

DeMar DeRozan is a game changer

Over the last two seasons, the Kings’ offense had a very specific flow to it. The ball ran through Domantas Sabonis on almost every possession and he orchestrated the action with incredible efficiency. 

The problem with continuing the same offense with the same group of players for multiple seasons is that it gets predictable. Teams game planned for the dribble hand off. They blitzed Sabonis or threw multiple small players his way.

When Kings general manager Monte McNair acquired DeRozan in a sign-and-trade, there were plenty of talking heads that didn’t understand the move. DeRozan isn’t a flow player. He likes to put the ball on the floor and play isolation basketball. 

It’s early, but through six games, you can see how this can work. The Kings needed something different to break up the constant flow offense. You can’t throw a fastball every pitch and the Kings now have a changeup to mix in.

DeRozan is currently riding a six game 20+ point streak. He’s averaging 25.3 points per game on 16.8 field goal attempts per game. DeRozan is also getting to the free throw line an incredible eight times per game and he’s helped propel the Kings from the worst free throw shooting team last season to the NBA’s best so far this year. 

The transition hasn’t been seamless. There have been some forced shots, especially in the first two games of the season, as well as in the loss to the Raptors on Saturday. But the outline of an incredible offense is starting to come into focus with DeRozan as a key member of the rotation. In addition to his scoring, DeRozan is averaging 2.3 steals per game and 3.3 deflections per game.