Stephen A declares Kings as a “potential sleeper” in 2024-25 NBA season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Stephen A. Smith believes that the Kings can surprise many watchers this upcoming 2024-25 NBA season.
Speaking on “The Stephen A. Smith Show” on Tuesday, the sassy analyst revealed why a revamped Sacramento team — not the New Orleans Pelicans or the Houston Rockets — could make the biggest leap next season.
And, no, Smith didn’t bother to mention the Kings’ addition of a star point guard DeMar DeRozan to support his claim, which instead was centered around an interesting Magic Johnson-De’Aaron Fox anecdote.
“Do you know who I think the potential sleeper is?” Smith asked. “The Sacrament Kings. This brother De’Aaron Fox.
“Now, I love my man Magic [Johnson]which we talked about earlier. The only basketball argument we ever got into was pushing him to draft De’Aaron Fox.
“He drafted Lonzo Ball. Because I saw what De’Aaron Fox did to Lonzo in the NCAA tournament.”
If that were the case, Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers certainly missed a force in Fox.
The Kings star guard was the epitome of a cornerstone player for Sacramento after being selected No. 5 overall in the 2017 NBA Draft.
In 74 games played last season, Fox averaged 26.6 points per game, a career high for the 2023 NBA All-Star, who proved to be a much more productive NBA player than an injured Ball.
“And I knew what he was going to do at the pro level, and Lonzo Ball wasn’t healthy,” Smith added.
“But even healthy, he didn’t have the kind of game that Fox gave him.”
In addition to Fox’s unquestionably elite play, surely Smith also factored in the addition of DeRozan to a lineup boasting the likes of Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and Malik Monk that have made the Kings a competitive team over the last two seasons.
“So, I’m of the Sacramento mindset,” Smith concluded. “I think along those lines. I could be wrong, but I think Sacramento.”
