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Sacramento Kings: Why Luke Walton is the wrong head coach for De’Aaron Fox

By Zamir Bueno

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 09: Head coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during the second half of a game against the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center on January 9, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 09: Head coach Luke Walton of the Los Angeles Lakers looks on during the second half of a game against the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center on January 9, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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Taking a closer look at why hiring Luke Walton would be a mistake for the Sacramento Kings when it comes to progressing their young star, De’Aaron Fox

There have been several reports stating that Luke Walton has agreed to become the new head coach of the Sacramento Kings. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN is one of the people reporting that Luke has accepted the position:

"Luke Walton and the Sacramento Kings have agreed to a deal in principle to make him the team’s new head coach, league sources told ESPN on Saturday."

However, one can argue that Luke Walton is the wrong coach for King’s point guard, De’Aaron Fox because of how he uses point guards. Luke Walton likes to utilize his point guards in an off the ball capacity as a bystander or spot up shooter.

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A prime example of was during his first season as a full-time head coach when the Los Angeles Lakers had a road game against the San Antonio Spurs.

D’Angelo Russell dribbled the basketball to the three-point line and passed it to Luol Deng who was standing on the right wing.

Once this happened, Deng dribbled the ball to the other side of the court and D’Angelo slid into the spot previously occupied by Deng.

Russell spent the rest of the possession in that spot as a bystander as Deng gave the ball to Nick Young who missed a 3-pointer.

The role contributed to D’Angelo taking 44.3 percent of his field goal attempts from behind the arc during his only season playing for Luke Walton (2016-17). D’Angelo wasn’t the only point guard subjected to the role as Lonzo Ball took 51.3 percent of his field goal attempts from behind the arc in the two seasons that Walton coached him.

Unfortunately, shooting is arguably De’Aaron Fox’s biggest weakness as a basketball player. According to Draft Express, shooting has been a weakness of his since high school.

The inability to shoot plagued him during his early days in the league as he shot 30 percent (making 0.6 3’s in 2.1 attempts per game)  from the behind the arc as a rookie.The following season, Fox saw a significant improvement in his 3-point shooting as he went from 30.7 percent to 37.1 percent making 1.1 3’s in 2.9 attempts per game).

Fox correlated the increase to a minor tweak in his shooting mechanics:

"“Looking at college I kind of saw that I brought the ball back too far”"

Although Fox has made great strides to improve his three-point shooting, he has only taken 20.3 percent of his field goal attempts from behind the arc in two NBA seasons. This is at least 24 percent less than what Luke Walton coached point guards have taken. The possibility of increasing his 3-point field goal attempts would be doing Fox a disservice because of his well known struggles.

Therefore, he would be better served with the ball in his hands  where he can maximize the use of his electric speed. According to Draft Express, Fox relied on his speed to dissect opponents in the half court during his lone season at Kentucky:

"In the half court, Fox’s speed was just as impactful, as 55% of his shots came around the basket despite opposing defenses loading up to defend his drives. Blessed with tremendous burst that makes his hesitation dribbles and quick crossovers all the more effective, Fox was regularly able to simply able to step back, measure his defender, and find his way deep into the paint off the dribble, even without a ball screen."

Not only is Fox known for his blazing speed but he was also touted as an exceptional distributor during his amateur career. Johnathan Givony and Mike Schmidt of Draft Express stated this during a recap article of the 2015 USA Basketball Junior National Team Mini-Camp:

"Fox was an “excellent distributor. Willing to make the simple play. Moves the ball ahead in transition. Nice touch on lobs. Can make all the necessary passes out of pick and roll.”"

As a consequence, unless Walton makes drastic changes to his offense, he will stunt the future growth of De’Aaron Fox as a player. For example, opposing teams will leave him wide open when he doesn’t have the basketball to encourage him the 3-point shot.

If De’Aaron Fox decides to take the shot, he would be accentuating his weakness and suppressing his greatest strength.

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On the other hand, if he doesn’t want to shoot, he will have to pass the basketball or drive to the basket and take a contested shot because his defender will be camping in the lane. Camping in the lane increases the likelihood that the defender can make contact with De’aaron to slow down his speed.

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