Kings vs. Hawks Preview: Learning to Fly

Hello, if you made it past the article summary, I want to let you know that I'm sorry and that the Hawk Tuah stuff was never that funny and that I did it for your own good. Sincerely, I hope you've cringed enough to know that you really don't need to go into the comments and make these jokes. For those of you who don't know what the hell I'm talking about: don't google it, don't worry about it. Internet culture is rarely worth researching, and it's definitely not worth your wife (or mother) seeing in your search history. Speaking of which, it's worth the effort, the Sacramento Kings are in Atlanta today for an early game against Trae Young and whoever isn't on the War and Peace injury report released yesterday! Out is Bogi Bogdanovic, out is De'Andre Hunter, out is Dyson Daniels, out are Kobe Bufkin and Cody Zeller and Vit Krejci… In? Well, I assume it's bandages and KT tape. And lots of Trae Young hero ball.

Let’s talk Kings basketball.

When: Friday, November 1st, 4:30pm PST
Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, GA
TV: NBCSCA – Kyle Draper (play-by-play)
radio: Sactown Sports 1140am

For your consideration

Risacher away: How worried are we now about the Sacramento Kings and their start to the season? Losing to two good teams, especially in games that were as winnable as they were, is never fun. Beating bad teams is never quite as satisfying. But is it easier for you now, four games into the season, knowing that the Kings have a paltry six points to their name after a 4-0 start? This isn't rhetoric, I'm genuinely curious what the average Kings Herald reader thinks.

Let's get to today's game: The Hawks are a deeply strange team. Led by Landry Fields and a cadre of fraternity brothers, the Hawks' front office has been all over the place in recent years, dropping a ton of draft capital on Dejounte Murray and then releasing him after two seasons of his best basketball. Rumors have swirled about trading him Trae, drafting players who don't fit their mold, changing coaches… there's a bit of chaos in Atlanta. Signing former Jazz coach Quin Snyder, even midseason, is a fantastic achievement, but they often feel like they're being run by a committee of Twitter users and ESPN panelists.

All in all, they're still a strong team that could surprise a team that isn't prepared for battle… and at the same time, a team that lost two games in a row to the (improving) Wizards tonight. Through five games, the Hawks have relied heavily on their offense to prevail: 7th in points per game at 117.6 ppg, at the fifth-fastest pace in the league, and currently boasting the 11th-best offensive rating in the league. The Hawks shoot the second-most free throws in the NBA, rank 19th in both two- and three-point attempts, and rank in the bottom ten in three-point percentage and top ten in two-point percentage . The engine of this team remains Trae Young, who, having just separated from his best teammate and mortal enemy Dejounte Murray, is averaging 28.2 points, 11.6 assists and almost 6 turnovers per game. The Kings Herald writer's chat had this conversation the other day and believes it has value: Trae is basically bizarre in the way the media is treating Haliburton's Superman. Tyrese is averaging 20 and 5 early this season, with fewer turnovers and much, much more help, but because he loves podcasts and Trae is in dire need of follicular intervention and plays for Atlanta, Haliburton is the league's darling while Trae remains that one 1.0 failed homunculus, full of points and a grumpy disposition, down in the basement. The media usually loves a good bastard – they've been lapping up Draymond's every word for a decade now. What makes Trae, a guy I'm not even a fan of, different? Evil Haliburton doesn't get any airtime?

Okay, back to the game here: The Hawks' defensive side still needs to show what Quinn Snyder was supposed to bring to the table when he made the jump, and that's definitely not all Quinn has to thank. Their actual counting numbers are decent: they rank 4th in steals, 9th in blocks. But they also rank 28th in points allowed, 28th in defensive rating, and are probably at their worst here: They allow their opponents the most three points per game while also allowing the highest percentage of shots from beyond the arc archway. Teams that go into an arena against the Hawks shoot 42.1% from distance against them and average over 43 attempts. The Kings are playing nine fewer players and earning 8% less. So when we suddenly see a Huerter rematch or DeRozan hits a few shots he shouldn't have, we know it's real.

Overall, the Hawks are in transition: somewhere between tank and contender, with Trae Young keeping his head too far above water to fire the sale, but young guys like Zaccharie Risacher, the first overall pick in the draft, not being good enough or Onyeka Okungwu didn't get enough minutes to go higher. Jalen Johnson is going to have a fantastic season, Clint Capela still exists and does Capela things, but right now they're the worst thing imaginable: just in the middle of the road.

The little stuff

Red Velvet's return: Greg wrote a good bit yesterday about the return of Kevin Huerter, who we all know and love from Beam Team: Season 1. Let's take the fan favorites in the hunt for that starting spot – Huerter, who is good, is absolutely good for the Kings. Whether as a starter or substitute, Kevin looks confident, has a good shot and can work his ass off on defense, with no real downside. If Monte goes all out to get Keon more playing time, Huerter's good performance means his value goes up. If the Kings defense suddenly falls off a cliff and a lower usage player with a higher defensive ceiling is needed, Kevin will fit in perfectly off the bench. All the sample sizes are still so small, but with each game Kevin continues to prove himself, my general nervousness bleeds into the “Hey, if it works!” level of the fanbase.

Bogi Down: After missing just three games all of last season, Bogi is expected to miss some time this season too due to hamstring surgery that will keep him out until at least December. Despite all the oddities surrounding his departure, Bogdanovic might be the former King I admire most in the league, and I hate that his post-Sacramento success has been completely derailed due to injuries. Including his breakout last year, Bogi is still averaging just 60 games per season for Atlanta.

forecast

Trae Young is stuck in Hell most of the night while Fox, Keon, and even Keegan step in to protect him throughout the night. More than 25 shots, about 7 field goals made. Jalen Johnson remains a player that many Kings fans obviously covet, Garrison Mathews remains a player that most of us actively despise, and Zaccharie Risacher does the most mediocre things imaginable.

Kings: 124 Hawks: 111