Latest news with #LaVine
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Kings Remove Interim Tag, Trusting Doug Christie To Lead Amid Uncertainty
The Sacramento Kings' future is murky. They fired former Coach of the Year Mike Brown and traded the face of the franchise, De'Aaron Fox. The primary return for the latter was Zach LaVine, a lottery-protected first-round pick from the Chicago Bulls this year, and two more future Round 1 selections. While the added draft capital should aid their future roster construction, parting with a former All-NBA guard who's 27 and not acquiring promising young players from the San Antonio Spurs was a head-scratching decision. Instead of prying Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle or a two-way wing like Devin Vassell from San Antonio, the Kings reunited LaVine and DeMar DeRozan. That's a pairing that, in part due to injuries, didn't achieve much success in Chicago. The idea that it would all of a sudden work in the Western Conference with more mileage on their tires was nearly impossible to find optimism about. The duo, with Domantas Sabonis, led Sacramento to the play-in tournament this year, but they got dispatched 120-106 by the Dallas Mavericks on their home floor. The usually raucous Golden 1 Center became a library as the game turned uncompetitive. The Kings immediately fired general manager Monte McNair after the loss. They replaced him with former New York Knicks GM Scott Perry. The latter spent three months with the franchise he's returning to, acting as their vice president of basketball operations in 2017. It's now official that Perry will work in concert with Doug Christie. According to Shams Charania of ESPN, Sacramento removed the interim tag, agreeing to a multi-year contract. The Kings went 27-24 after Christie replaced Mike Brown this season. They ranked ninth in offensive efficiency in that stretch. Putting leadership in place, with a fresh set of eyes and opinions in the front office, was the crucial first step forward. Now, Sacramento must determine Sabonis's future with the franchise. Owner Vivek Ranadive has long seemed resistant to embracing a complete rebuild. It's likely why the Kings got LaVine in return for Fox, but not younger building blocks for a brighter future. According to veteran NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line substack, the team has no plans for an "offseason teardown." While LaVine, Sabonis, and DeRozan are under contract, Sacramento's lack of cap space this summer suggests it will have to get creative to acquire impactful players. It also reads like a situation likely to end the way the last two seasons did: a play-in tournament elimination.
Forbes
12-04-2025
- Sport
- Forbes
Zach LaVine Has Fully Returned To Stardom, Sporting Elite Efficiency
12 months ago, Zach LaVine was viewed in a much different light than he is today. The 30-year-old, who has played 73 games this season so far, is averaging 23.4 points per game, and is sporting a frankly ridiculous level of efficiency, with a true-shooting percentage of 64%. LaVine, who signed a max contract worth $215 million with Chicago in 2022, was curiously seen as a dramatic overpay by the Bulls, and his reputation suffered as a result. When he then got injured last season, and was limited to just 25 games, he was more or less deemed as having one of the biggest albatross contracts in the league, meaning moving off of him would be a near impossibility. Fortunately for LaVine, he showed that such reactions were too reactive, as he bounced back for the Bulls over the course of 42 games, leading the Sacramento Kings to get involved before the deadline, and acquire him as part of the De'Aaron Fox trade. During his tenure as a King, LaVine has kept up his efficient scoring, and has maintained an already effective three-point efficiency. LaVine is hitting 44.3% from downtown this season, and has canned 235 of those long-balls, establishing a career-high in shooting efficiency, and makes. The issue with LaVine's contractual compensation was always his role in Chicago, as he was continuously miscast as the number one option. In Sacramento, LaVine is finally playing alongside an elite passer in Domantas Sabonis, meaning the ball doesn't automatically go through LaVine to the same extent. This is good news for LaVine, and the Kings, assuming of course Sabonis wish to stick around after this season. LaVine's switch to Sacramento has, at the very least, confirmed the overarching theory that he's best in a role where he can scale up and down, and thus play off of others, as opposed to being the main cog in a system. The former All-Star is being assisted on 53.5% of his two-pointers (by far a career-high), and 57.6% of his three-pointers, which is a six percentage point bump from his season in Chicago. LaVine's overall gravity on the floor provides loads of space to teammates such as DeMar DeRozan and Keegan Murray, and the mission for the Kings now will be to keep building a team in which LaVine functions as a high-level, scalable scorer who can bend defenses. LaVine's case emphasizes that, sometimes, all a player needs is the right circumstances to thrive. Unless noted otherwise, all stats via PBPStats, Cleaning the Glass or Basketball-Reference. All salary information via Spotrac. All odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
Miami Herald
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Miami Herald
Zach LaVine's 43 points helps Kings storm back vs. Pistons
Zach LaVine scored a season-high 43 points, DeMar DeRozan added 37 points and the visiting Sacramento Kings beat the Detroit Pistons 127-117 on Monday for their third straight win. Domantas Sabonis recorded a triple-double with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for Sacramento (39-40), which erased an 18-point first-half deficit. Off the bench, Jonas Valanciunas added 10 points and 12 rebounds. LaVine, who was 8-of-11 shooting from 3-point range, made six 3-pointers and scored 30 points in the second half for the Kings, who led 119-112 on Trey Lyles' layup with 3:32 left in regulation. Detroit pulled within 122-114 with 2:05 left before LaVine scored the next five points to seal the Kings' victory. LaVine's eight 3-pointers matched a season high. Cade Cunningham led Detroit (43-36) with 35 points on 13-of-21 shooting from the field. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 19 points, Ausar Thompson added 15 and Malik Beasley had 14 off the bench. With their fourth loss in five games, the Pistons are 1 1/2 games behind the fifth-place Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference. Sacramento, which shot 51.6 percent from the field and 40.7 percent (11 of 27) from 3-point range, moved a game ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference. The Kings led 38-37 at the end of the first quarter behind DeRozan and LaVine, who scored a combined 21 points for the period. Sacramento guard Malik Monk exited late in the opening quarter with left calf soreness and did not return. Detroit began the second quarter on a 19-4 run and led 56-42 with 7:25 left in the second quarter. DeRozan had 22 points in the first half to lead Sacramento, which trailed 72-62 at intermission. Hardaway led the Pistons with 14 points at the break. The Kings held a 97-94 lead at the end of the third quarter after LaVine drilled a 3-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining. Sacramento held the Pistons to 45 points in the second half on 40 percent shooting, including 31.2 percent (5 of 16) from beyond the arc. LaVine has scored a total of 80 points in the last two games for the Kings, who beat the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers 120-113 on Sunday night. Field Level Media 2023 - All Rights Reserved
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
LaVine boosts Kings' postseason bid as Pistons downed
Domantas Sabonis (center) dominated at both ends as Sacramento edged closer to the postseason with victory over Detroit (Gregory Shamus) Zach LaVine scored 43 points as the Sacramento Kings inched closer to the NBA postseason on Monday with a 127-117 road win over the Detroit Pistons. The Kings, who are battling to force their way into the Western Conference's play-in tournament, recovered from an 18-point deficit to snatch victory at the Little Caesars Arena. Advertisement Huge performances from Sacramento's big three of LaVine, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis set up the win over a Pistons side who have already booked their playoff berth from the Eastern Conference. The Kings' win followed another impressive victory on the road on Sunday, when they upset the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers. LaVine, who poured in 37 in Sunday's win over the Cavs, kept the points flowing in Detroit on Monday, shooting eight three-pointers to finish with 43 points. He was backed by DeRozan, who had 37 points, and Sabonis, who impressed at both ends of the court on his way to a triple-double comprised of 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists. Advertisement The win means the Kings remain in ninth place in the Western Conference table with a 39-40 record, just ahead of the 10th placed Dallas Mavericks (38-41). With just four games remaining before the regular season wraps up on Sunday, the Kings and the Mavericks are within touching distance of the play-in tournament. The only team that can bump them out of the play-in positions, the 11th-placed Phoenix Suns, have three fewer wins at 35-43. In Monday's other game, the Miami Heat warmed up for next week's in play-in games with a comfortable 117-105 victory over the already-eliminated Philadelphia 76ers. rcw/jgc
CBS News
08-04-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Detroit Pistons fall flat, suffer 117-127 loss to Sacramento Kings
Zach LaVine scored 43 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, and DeMar DeRozan added 37 as the Sacramento Kings rallied for a 127-117 victory over the Detroit Pistons on Monday to strengthen their bid for a first-round home game in the play-in tournament. Domantas Sabonis had 19 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for the Kings, who have won three straight and have a one-game lead over Dallas for ninth in the Western Conference. Cade Cunningham scored 35 points and Tim Hardaway Jr. added 19 for Detroit, which has lost four of its last five games. The Pistons started out the second quarter with a 29-10 run to take a 66-48 lead. DeRozan scored eight of the Kings next 14 points to close the deficit to 72-62 at halftime. Sacramento took its first lead of the second half, 97-94, when LaVine made a 3-pointer with less than a second left in the third quarter. The Kings never relinquished the lead and the closest Detroit could get was 106-105 on Cunningham's three-point play with 9:16 left in the game. Kings: Guard Malik Monk left the game with 1:48 left in the first quarter with a left calf injury. Sacramento was already playing without Keegan Murray (back) and Jake LaRavia (thumb). Pistons: Detroit's defense allowed Sacramento to make 51.6% of its shots, including 40.7% on 3-pointers. LaVine hit three straight 3-pointers in the first 1:46 of the fourth to put Sacramento ahead 106-104. He made 5 of 6 3-pointers in the quarter. The Pistons entered needing four made 3-pointers to break their franchise record of 993 from the 2018-19 season — and they finished 13 of 39 against the Kings. The Kings start a three-game homestand on Wednesday against Denver. The Pistons will host New York on Thursday.
