Tag: Domantas Sabonis

Domantas Sabonis will miss a $1.3 million bonus for not making the 2024 NBA All-Star Game

This is a costly omission for the Sacramento Kings big man.

Sacramento Kings big man Domantas Sabonis was one of the most surprising players not selected for the 2024 NBA All-Star Game.

The three-time All-Star had tough competition to represent the Western Conference. Sabonis ranked top-10 among all frontcourt players in the West when it came to fan voting, player voting, and media voting.

That put him ahead of Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns in weighted rank, but reserves are chosen by the 30 coaches in the NBA. Towns made the team (perhaps surprisingly) while Sabonis was not selected.

But his omission was the most costly among the potential candidates. As noted by ESPN’s Bobby Marks, not making the All-Star Game will cost him a $1.3 million bonus from the Kings.

Sabonis currently ranks fifth-best among all NBA players in win shares, which is an advanced catch-all metric that measures overall value to a team. He trails only MVP frontrunners Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid.

Perhaps the big man could get a nod for the All-Star Game, and a bonus, as a potential injury replacement if Anthony Davis (who has now missed multiple games in a row due to injury) or another player from the West cannot play in Indiana.

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Sixers credit Tobias Harris for frustrating Kings star Domantas Sabonis

The Philadelphia 76ers credit Tobias Harris for slowing down Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers had a tough challenge thrown at them on Friday night in the form of Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis. Without Joel Embiid to defend him, it was going to be on everybody to step up and slow him down.

Coach Nick Nurse turned to Tobias Harris to take on the challenge of Sabonis and Harris did a great job. The veteran out of Tennessee led the charge of holding Sacramento’s All-Star big man to just 14 points and forcing him into four turnovers on the night.

“He did a good job on him,” Nurse said of Harris’s defense. “I think that we worked really hard on what we were going to do with him as a team, right? We tried to pick him up up the floor because he’s really good at bringing the ball and spraying it around in pitching it around for 3-balls for them.”

Harris is gifted with a big, strong frame and he was able to use his skills to be able to get into Sabonis and make life tough for him. Not only was he picking him up at half-court, but he was also bothering him into some bad turnovers and tough shots in the paint.

“Then we certainly had a good game plan for when he got it on the post as well,” Nurse continued on the effort against Sabonis. “So as a team, we really executed well, but I thought again, he’s (Harris) got to pick up, he’s got to handle, deny him at the top of the key when he’s handling. There’s a lot of two-man actions with him going on and he was handling all of it with really good physicality.”

The defensive effort helped Harris go off for 37 points as he led the Sixers on both ends of the floor. He was fantastic in helping Philadelphia end a 3-game losing skid.

“I thought that set the tone for myself, personally,” Harris added. “Defending, taking on the challenge, and then early on in the game, that fueled a lot of energy towards the offensive end for us. Getting stops, getting out in transition, creating some easier looks, and that was the game plan at shootaround. It paid off tonight.”

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The 5 fascinating NBA players chosen for Netflix’s documentary series that’s just like Quarterback

This new show on Netflix could be a lot of fun.

After the success of the Quarterback documentary series on Netflix, the streaming platform is reportedly trying a similar model but for NBA stars.

Netflix has done well in the sports world, producing quality shows like Drive To Survive for F1 and Full Swing for golf. With a rich list of characters set to star in the show about basketball, this upcoming series looks like a lot of fun as well.

According to Shams Charania, the show will spotlight five players during its first season: LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards and Domantas Sabonis.

This yet-to-be-named series is produced by several groups, including the production company founded by James and Maverick Carter, The SpringHill Company. Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground Productions as well as Peyton Manning’s Omaha Productions will also produce.

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Takeaways: Jalen Green breaks out as Rockets rout Kings, climb back to .500

Jalen Green dropped a game-high 23 points on elite efficiency in 26 minutes, and it led the #Rockets to a third straight win in Monday’s blowout of Sacramento.

HOUSTON — In Monday’s rematch at Toyota Center, the Rockets followed Saturday’s win over Sacramento with a 122-97 blowout (box score). Houston, which has now won three straight games, led by as many as 40 points in another strong two-way performance.

The Kings fell to 2-4 with the loss, while the Rockets (3-3) are at .500 for the first time since being 1-1 in October 2021. Excluding that two-game sample, it’s the first time the Rockets have been at .500 or better since being 11-11 early in the 2020-21 season.

Third-year guard Jalen Green had slumped to start the 2023-24 season, averaging slightly more than 17 points over his first five games on subpar shooting. But in this one, Green was electric with a game-high 23 points in 26 minutes, shooting 5-of-9 overall (55.6%), 3-of-5 on 3-pointers (60%), and 10-of-12 on free throws (83.3%).

Meanwhile, fellow third-year prospect Alperen Sengun finished with 17 points, 8 rebounds and a career-high 12 assists. Jabari Smith Jr. added 13 points and 4 rebounds for the Rockets in just 22 minutes, making 5-of-8 shots (62.5%) and 3-of-5 on 3-pointers (60%).

Sengun’s defense also helped limit Kings star Domantas Sabonis to just 8 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 turnovers in 30 minutes.

De’Aaron Fox and Amen Thompson again sat out for the Kings and Rockets, respectively, due to right ankle sprains, while Tari Eason missed his sixth straight game with a stress reaction in his left lower leg. Eason is expected to return soon, while Thompson is likely weeks away from a return due to the Grade 2 nature of his sprain.

As for Monday’s rout, here’s our look at highlights and postgame interviews, along with reaction by media members and fans. Next up for Houston, as a seven-game homestand continues, is Wednesday’s game versus the Los Angeles Lakers. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. Central.

10 international stars (including Jamal Murray) no longer participating in the 2023 FIBA World Cup

MVP winners like Giannis and Jokic will be missed.

While there are a lot of great players who are representing their countries in the upcoming FIBA World Cup, several important players can’t make out.

Of course, for whatever reason, it’s not exactly uncommon for American stars like LeBron James to skip out on FIBA World Cup action. During the last tournament, only four Americans who made the NBA All-Star team were on the roster.

But it is a bit more unusual for an international star to not suit up during the tournament, so we decided to look at the most notable players who aren’t able to make it.

Players like Australia’s Ben Simmons (who hasn’t played for his national team in over a decade) were excluded from this list.

Joel Embiid, who has citizenship in France and the United States as well as Cameroon, was also not included because he has not played on the FIBA circuit.

Meanwhile, here are the other players who won’t be rostered when the tournament begins on August 25.

The Kings can wisely reunite Chris Duarte with Domantas Sabonis with this savvy trade, per report

The numbers say Duarte played his best basketball with Sabonis.

The Sacramento Kings are reportedly nearing a trade for Indiana Pacers wing Chris Duarte, according to Shams Charania.

Sacramento is expected to offer “draft compensation” in return for the 26-year-old former lottery pick, who made NBA All-Rookie Second-Team in 2022.

Duarte averaged 13.1 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.0 steals per game as a rookie. But he took a step back as a sophomore, averaging just 7.9 points and 2.5 rebounds with 1.4 assists and 0.5 steals per game.

Perhaps one reason for the decline in his on-court performance was the loss of Domantas Sabonis, who was traded to Sacramento in exchange for Tyrese Haliburton.

Sabonis reportedly took Duarte out to dinner before the Kings hosted the Pacers last season, per SI.com. The All-NBA big man has said that he has maintained a relationship with the former Oregon star (via Indy Star):

“We keep in touch a lot, so we’re pretty close.”

The two also had fantastic chemistry on the court during their time with the Pacers. Duarte made 26 field goals after handoffs during his rookie season, per Synergy. None came after the Pacers traded Sabonis. He made just eight in his second professional season.

Even though the trade was made midway through the 2021-22 season, via NBA.com, no one recorded more passes (369) or assists (43) to Duarte when he was a rookie than Sabonis.

TEAMMATE (min: 250 minutes) AST/36 PASS/36
T.J. McConnell 1.84 21.0
Domantas Sabonis 1.82 15.6
Tyrese Haliburton 1.48 17.3
Buddy Hield 1.31 7.9
Andrew Nembhard 1.09 11.8
Malcolm Brogdon 1.07 16.5
Goga Bitadze 0.87 12.2
Bennedict Mathurin 0.55 5.4
Oshae Brissett 0.45 6.4

There was a noticeable decline in performance for Duarte after the trade during his rookie season.

Duarte averaged 24.0 points with 3.8 assists per 100 possessions when he shared the floor with Sabonis, per PBPStats, and 21.9 points with 3.5 assists per 100 without the big man.

The numbers without Sabonis were more aligned with his performance during his second professional season, in which he averaged 19.2 points and 3.4 assists per 100.

As a rookie, he had an above-average 3-point percentage with Sabonis on the floor (38.5 percent) but dropped below league average (34.4 percent) during his minutes without the big man (34.8 percent) in 2021-22.

Duarte shot 31.6 percent from beyond the arc as a sophomore in his first full season without Sabonis.

Overall, his effective field-goal percentage with Sabonis (53.0 percent) was about on par with the league average (53.2 percent) when Duarte was a rookie but was far below without him (47.8 percent) on the Pacers. That slump continued into his sophomore year (45.2 percent) as well.

But playing alongside Sabonis once again, Duarte can potentially have a bounce-back season in Sacramento.

The best takes and the sharpest bets on all the hoops storylines you need to know. Sign up for our Layup Lines newsletter, hitting your inbox on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

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Free Agency: What’s next for the Kings with $35 million cap space?

How the Sacramento Kings could use $35 million in cap space to improve the team and renegotiate and extend Domantas Sabonis.

The Sacramento Kings are heading into the offseason looking to build off their successful 2022-23 campaign. They entered last night’s draft with the 24th overall selection, which they could’ve used to add another building block toward their future. Instead, they traded the pick and Richaun Holmes to the Dallas Mavericks for nothing. While the deal may look bad from a value proposition, the Kings clearly prioritized getting off Holmes and the remaining two years, $26.7 million left on his deal.

This trade also accomplished another thing: they’re now a cap space team. They project to have $33-36 million in cap space, which should be more than enough to acquire an impact player or two while potentially renegotiating and extending the expiring contract of Domantas Sabonis.

Draymond Green lost respect for Domantas Sabonis for not shaking hands, which is absurd

Draymond stomped on Sabonis but was mad he didn’t get a handshake.

Welcome to Layup Lines, our basketball newsletter where we’ll prep you for the tip-off of tonight’s action, from what to watch to bets to make. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox.

After the Warriors defeated the Kings in the first round of the postseason, Draymond Green shared some thoughts that caught my attention.

Green was suspended earlier in the series for stomping on Sacramento big man Domantas Sabonis. Several people around the league (including teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson as well as Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Damian Lillard) defended Green’s actions.

Sabonis, however, claimed that there is “no room” for that in the NBA. It makes sense why he may have harvested some resentment for Green. He suffered a sternum contusion following Green’s stomp.

Once the series was over and the Kings were officially eliminated on Sunday, according to Green, Sabonis went directly to the locker room before he shook hands with anyone on Golden State’s roster.

During the latest episode of his podcast, Green said that made him lose respect for Sabonis (via The Draymond Green Show):

“Lost a lot of respect for Sabonis. You don’t shake guys hands after you lose? I don’t respect that. I once left the court when we lost in Game 7 to the Cleveland Cavaliers and I went to my locker room and I sat down and I said this don’t feel right. And I walked back on the court and I showed everybody love. We lost. Deal with it. Pay your respect. That was whack to me.”

That is creating a false equivalency and unfair criticism of Sabonis.

While it may have been a nice gesture for Sabonis to let bygones be bygones after the amazing series concluded, you can’t stomp on someone’s chest and then just expect them to forgive you and shake your hand.

The discourse surrounding handshake etiquette is frankly quite boring. People don’t shake hands all the time and we don’t need to police it. LeBron left the floor before he exchanged pleasantries with the Grizzlies. Who cares?

Some folks thought the pandemic could have ended the handshake forever, but the tradition is still expected as a postgame ritual in sports. After an ugly incident involving Michigan coach Juwan Howard, however, former NBA star Patrick Ewing advocated for the tradition to end.

Simply put, there is more to good sportsmanship than a postgame handshake.

After a physical series that was tasking both emotionally and physically, after it was all said and done, I can understand why Sabonis maybe just wanted to get off the court.

The Tip-Off

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

NBA content from around the USA TODAY Sports network.

My colleague, Charles Curtis, ranked the 10 best possible 2023 NBA Finals matchups:

“The Golden State Warriors are contenders. Again. LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers look like they could make a run. The top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks bowed out. And the New York Knicks won a playoff series for the first time in a while. So much NBA drama, which we love.

All of that means we’re set up for some potentially juicy NBA Finals matchups that we should all root for. With the second round already in progress, let’s dig into the 10 best possible NBA Finals matchups, based on the highest level of watchability.”

Click here to read his full list.

One to Watch

Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

(All odds via Tipico.)

Nuggets (-4.5, -180) vs. Nuggets (+4.5, +155), O/U 228.5, 10:00 PM ET

Everyone is scared of the Suns, but let’s not forget that the Nuggets had the best record in the Western Conference and won the first game of the series.

Shootaround

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

—A fired-up Steph Curry told the Kings to ‘light the beam’ as the Warriors ended Sacramento’s season

—LeBron James didn’t shake hands with the Grizzlies after the Lakers absolutely destroyed Memphis by 40

— Klay Thompson thinks his dad may root against him during the Lakers – Warriors playoff series

— Ja Morant caught flack for his ‘Fine in the West’ comments after being eliminated by the Lakers but he took it in stride

This photo of Jordan Poole ripping the ball from Domantas Sabonis is the wildest of the NBA playoffs

Jordan Poole later elbowed Domantas Sabonis in the jaw.

The Golden State Warriors defeated the Sacramento Kings on Thursday and cut the series deficit for the opening round of the playoffs to 2-1.

Draymond Green was suspended for the game, however, for stomping on Sacramento big man Domantas Sabonis during Game 2. According to the league, Green was suspended partially because of his previous transgressions on the court.

So with Green ineligible to play for Game 3, Golden State’s Jordan Poole was given a spot in the starting lineup. Within just a couple of minutes of tipoff, before the Kings had even scored yet, Poole made a defensive stop to force a lost ball turnover on Sabonis.

The possession was pretty innocuous in the scheme of things, though it did set the tone for a pretty convincing Golden State victory.

But the deeper context made this photo particularly wild:

The photo, captured by USA TODAY’s Cary Edmondson, immediately became my favorite of the NBA postseason thus far.

Even though it was Green who was suspended, the Warriors also reportedly believed that Sabonis was playing dirty throughout the series thus far.

In fact, Green said he requested an X-ray after the big man grabbed his ankle on the same possession as the stomp. Here is from ESPN’s Zach Lowe (via The Lowe Post):

“There is some anger within the organization toward the league. There’s a sense in the organization that Sabonis is shoving people on offensive rebounds and playing with his elbows out and using the ball as a weapon on offense. ‘So of course someone eventually retaliated.’ You can give that any validity you want.”

So right after learning the people within Golden State may believe that Sabonis uses the ball and his elbow as weapons, this photo perfectly captures the same thing happening to him here.

Later in the game, it appeared Poole elbowed Sabonis in the jaw during a rebound attempt.

It certainly seems like a rivalry is brewing between these two teams, and it’s interesting to see Poole specifically getting physical with Sabonis given the Golden State guard has his own history with Green.

With all of that in mind, this was a marvelous image from Edmondson.

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Injury Report: Kings’ Domantas Sabonis (sternum contusion) questionable for Game 3 vs. Warriors

The Kings All-Star big man is listed as questionable for Game 3 on Thursday.

With the Golden State Warriors missing Draymond Green due to a suspension for Game 3, the Sacramento Kings could also potentially be without an All-Star in the frontcourt on Thursday evening in San Francisco.

On Tuesday, Domantas Sabonis was listed on the injury report with a sternum contusion. The Kings center is listed as questionable for Thursday’s Game 3 at Chase Center.

Via @ShamsCharania on Twitter:

After the pair of battling bigs were tangled up while in transition during Game 2 in Sacramento, Sabonis appeared to grab Green’s leg, causing the former Defensive Player of the Year to step on his chest. Following a review, Green was ejected and Sabonis was assessed a technical foul.

With Green ejected, the Kings secured a 2-0 lead in the series with the win in Game 2.

After the incident on Monday night, Sabonis underwent X-rays in his ribs/lungs area. The X-rays came back negative, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN.

Via @wojespn on Twitter:

The Warriors will host the Kings on Thursday as the series turns to San Francisco. Game 3 between the Warriors and Kings is expected to tip off at 7 p.m. PT at Chase Center. 

This post originally appeared on Warriors Wire! Follow us on Facebook and Twitter! 

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