The Sacramento Kings season got off to a rocky start last night as they fell big to the Los Angeles Clippers 121-96. Much like preseason, we saw the Kings struggle on both sides of the ball, and just like last year, three-point shooting and defense continue to be hot topics in Sacramento.
As a reminder, the Kings made a league-worst 10.3 threes last season, thanks in large part to both their low percentage (34%) and low volume (30.2). Last night was more of the same, as the Kings ended the night 8-of-28 (28.6%) from beyond the arc.
Everyone knows the Kings need to get more threes, but that's easier said than done with this roster. Following the game, Sactown 1140's Brendan Nunes asked Zach LaVine how they could get more looks from deep, and the veteran sharpshooter gave an answer that shows just how much work is left for this roster in the second year of their rebuild.
— Brenden Nunes (@BrendenNunesNBA) October 22, 2026Zach LaVine on Kings needing to generate more 3Ps:
“The right people got to shoot them. But, I mean, certain people aren’t off-the-dribble shooters, you know. So you have to help them get shots.”
“You need to have downhill penetration. You got to have, you know, people being… pic.twitter.com/83VGofnVsW
LaVine is Right
Unfortunately for the Kings, LaVine couldn't be more right. Outside of him and Darius Acuff Jr., the Kings don't have anyone who can get a good look from deep off the dribble. Keegan Murray, De'Andre Hunter, Emanuel Sharp, Nique Clifford, and Daeqwon Plowden are all catch-and-shoot three-point shooters, and the rest of the roster doesn't take enough threes to warrant defending on the perimeter.
Malik Monk appears to be the Kings only hope to get more good looks from three, as he's another player who can generate his own looks from three. But it's hard to know when the fan-favorite will be back on the court, and for how long.
One Painful Stat
What really backs up LaVine's comments is a deeper look at the stats from last night. NBA.com breaks down three-point attempts by the closest defender, with the best looks being 'Wide-Open 3PAs,' where the defender is six or more feet away.
Last night, the Kings generated just four wide-open three-point attempts, which is...not great. And it doesn't help that they made just one of them. For reference, the Dallas Mavericks were last in the league last season with 12.9 attempts, with the Kings a close second-worst at 13.0. And on the flip side, the Golden State Warriors led the league with 24.7 wide-open 3PAs. So four really isn't going to get it done.
What's Next
The hardest part about the stat and LaVine's comments is how hard it's going to be to change. As mentioned above, Monk could be a missing key to getting more three-point attempts, but he doesn't appear to be part of the Kings' future, so there's no guarantee it would last. The same can really be said for LaVine.
The other hope is that Acuff will start generating more looks for others. Last night, he was in attack mode en route to 24 field goal attempts. He's going to shoot a lot this year, but he should find a better balance between attacking and facilitating as the season goes on.
There's a lot of talk about the Kings' defense this season, but the offense is right there with it. At the end of the day, if Sacramento doesn't figure out how to generate more good looks from three, they could finish at the bottom of the rankings on both sides of the ball once again.
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