The Kings (12-17) are scuffling. They’ve lost three straight and four of their last five, and their prospects won’t get any brighter when they suit up against the Houston Rockets Monday at Golden 1 Center.
After 29 games, the Kings have no idea who they are. They started to develop an identity with a makeshift roster, but now they have to reinvent themselves on the fly with the return of De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley.
This should have been expected. Fox and Bagley are major pieces, but they also are very young and learning new offensive and defensive sets. The two franchise cornerstones have been healthy at the same time for just four games this season.
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In those four games, the Kings are winless.
It’s a difficult task, but Luke Walton and his coaching staff have no choice but to go back to the drawing board and find a way to get these two to mesh with the rest of the rotation. It doesn't help that the team's glue player, Bogdan Bogdanovic, is ailing now and has missed two straight games.
“There’s something that as a group, we have to find our rhythm again,” Walton told reporters after the Kings’ 119-115 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday. “I believe in our group and we’ll get there, but in the meantime, the only way to do it is to watch film and work harder.”
Fox put up numbers Saturday, finishing with 22 points, four assists, three rebounds and three steals in 30 minutes. In his first start since returning from a 17-game absence, he shot 8-for-13 from the field and knocked down 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
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Bagley posted 11 points and 11 rebounds while picking up a pair of steals. Both players finished with a positive in the plus-minus category, but individual numbers mean very little when you have postseason aspirations and you drop to 1-3 on a road trip.
“It feels like the rhythm is off,” Walton said. “As a coach, it’s my job to find the groups that are working together and as a team, we need to embrace and understand who we are as players and bring the best out of each other.”
While Fox and Bagley are starting to find their sea legs, other players are starting to struggle as opportunities and roles change. Of the regulars, Buddy Hield is the one who looks the most lost.
After a very good stretch that saw him rattle off 10 straight games with 20 points or more, Hield has taken a step backward. Over his last two games, the Kings’ leading scorer has combined to score 15 points on 6-for-33 shooting and 3-of-20 from 3-point range.
“We ask Buddy to a lot for us,” Walton said. “In my opinion, he’s continuing to get better -- playmaking, being solid with the ball, things like that.”
Hield forced the action, turning the ball over four times against the Grizzlies. When his offense was working, he allowed it to affect his defense as well.
Walton and his staff clearly aren’t going to lose faith in Hield. He’s carried the team through the early season injuries. They will work to get him better looks and hope that he can play through the struggles.
“The shots not going right now,” Walton said. “ If you’re a shooter, what I’ve learned in this league is that you’ve got to keep shooting. It’s the only way to get out of a slump.”
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Basketball is a lot more complex than it looks. It’s a delicate balance of chemistry, personalities and talent. The Kings were knocked off-kilter when two of their most talented players went down early in the season.
Now that Bagley and Fox are back, the Kings' equilibrium has once again been tilted. They’ll figure things out eventually, but it could get worse before it gets better.