The Sacramento Kings addressed their void at point guard by bringing in a steady floor general who can help their playoff pursuit.
The Kings were anchored by former franchise point guard De’Aaron Fox for the last eight seasons. After dealing the one-time All-Star to the San Antonio Spurs ahead of the Feb. 6 trade deadline, Sacramento was left in dire need of a new facilitator. The Kings promoted star shooting guard Malik Monk to their primary decision-making role. However, with minimal point guard experience, the Arkansas native left question marks in their backcourt despite his electric offensive abilities.
As a result, Sacramento signed free agent point guard Markelle Fultz to a deal on Wednesday, as ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
Between 2019-20 and 2022-23, Fultz came into his own as a quality starting one guard for the Orlando Magic. The former No. 1 overall pick from 2017 averaged 12.7 points and dished out 5.4 assists per game for the Magic. Fultz proved himself to be a stout slasher who could finish in the lane, set the tempo on offense and find his teammates. He also collected 1.3 steals per contest in that span.
Fultz’s playmaking abilities will service the Kings most. Star center Domantas Sabonis (6.2 APG) and Monk (5.9 APG) lead the team. Having a natural floor general adept at bringing the ball up and running plays is invaluable to the Kings and will come in handy once defenses clamp down in the playoffs, should they advance to the postseason come spring. He’ll also add solid scoring to their inside-out offense.
More NBA: Clippers could form dream pairing with talented scoring big man this winter
