NBA Notes: Kings, DeMar DeRozan, Grizzlies, Zach Edey, Rockets

Kings

Well, we all figured DeMar DeRozan would be a difference-maker wherever he ended up this offseason, and that team is the Kings. Watch out, many around the NBA suggest.

“Adding DeRozan to De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis gives Sacramento multiple go-to scorers at the cost of fit between those players and their supporting cast,” wrote Kevin Pelton of ESPN. “In particular, there’s overlap between DeRozan and Fox in terms of clutch scoring. Fox, the winner of the inaugural Jerry West Clutch Player of the Year award in 2022-23, led the league with 194 points in what NBA Advanced Stats defines as ‘clutch time.’ DeRozan, last year’s runner-up in the category, has been second each of the last two seasons.”

In other words, again, there’s every reason to believe DeRozan and the Kings should be an excellent match.

“Both can’t handle the ball at the same time down the stretch, which might mean more time spotting up for DeRozan,” Pelton added. “Although he improved his 3-point accuracy to 34% with the Bulls, that came on limited volume: last season’s 2.8 attempts per game were DeRozan’s most since 2017-18.”

• In case you missed it, the Kings are bringing in several veterans for pre-camp workouts. We have the full story here.

Grizzlies

As for rookies, everyone will be keeping a close eye on Grizzlies center Zach Edey, twice the college player of the year at Purdue.

“The 7-foot-4 Edey lasted until the No. 9 pick, when he landed with a Grizzlies team in need of a starting center after trading Steven Adams at the deadline,” Pelton wrote. “Edey would ideally start alongside Jaren Jackson Jr. in the frontcourt, filling the role that predecessors Adams and Jonas Valanciunas did as screen setters and rim protectors. If Edey can develop pick-and-roll chemistry with Ja Morant, his size could make him unstoppable against switches or when left free to roll to the rim.”

Most of the doubts surrounding Edey come at the other end.

“The bigger questions are on defense, where Edey rarely strayed far from the hoop while averaging 2.2 blocks per game last season,” Pelton wrote. “NBA teams will test his ability to defend pick-and-roll offense early and often and he will need to hold up defensively to fulfill expectations as preseason Rookie of the Year favorite.”

Rockets

Of course, when it comes to rookies to watch, the name of Rockets guard Reed Sheppard must be mentioned.

“No rookie looked more ready to contribute at the NBA summer league than Sheppard, the No. 3 overall pick by the Rockets who topped my stats-based projections for this year’s draft and is second to Edey in Rookie of the Year odds,” Pelton noted.

For now, Sheppard is likely to come off the bench behind Fred VanVleet and Jalen Green in Houston’s backcourt.

“Long-term, Sheppard’s development could influence how the Rockets move into phase three of their rebuild and the future of starting point guard VanVleet,” Pelton wrote. “That will also be determined by whether Sheppard shows he can hold his own defending one-on-one to go with his sky-high steal rate (2.8 per game in summer league).”