The Kings will rise or fall with their young trio

The Sacramento Kings are using summer league to get an early look at what De’Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley III and Harry Giles can do.

Fans were just starting to funnel into the Golden 1 Center when news broke that DeMarcus Cousins was joining the team in Oakland, just about a 90-minute drive down Interstate 80. However, by the time the Kings tipped off for their first summer league game, a sellout crowd (yes, a sellout, for summer league) made it clear Boogie is old news. That night was about one thing — the first time Kings fans saw De’Aaron Fox, Harry Giles and Marvin Bagley III play together. After a decade of disappointment, the Kings are looking forward.

These summer exhibitions will be more informative for the Kings than most teams, given they have five standard roster players suiting up, all of whom figure to play key roles this upcoming season. This is the first year Sacramento is hosting the California Classic (sort of the opening act to the Las Vegas Summer League), and the other participating teams — the Los Angeles Lakers, Golden State Warriors and Miami Heat — are primarily using the games to mine for players to fill the end of their bench or their G League affiliate rosters. These games don’t closely resemble regular season basketball but, more than any other team, the Kings are getting an early screening of what the upcoming season will look like.

Bagley is the newest member of the Kings. Drafted second overall, he’s Sacramento’s next best hope at center (or small forward, depending on who you ask) and his talent is evident in bursts. They drafted Bagley because of his potential to be a three-level scorer. This is the first NBA action for both him and Giles. The Kings front office has invested a lot, at least emotionally, into both of them, and are encouraged by the early returns.

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Mid-way through the first quarter, Bagley hit an acrobatic, turnaround jumper off the glass that a man his size shouldn’t be able to pull off. Then on defense, Giles blocked a perimeter jumper and, as the ball landed into the hands of Frank Mason, took off on the break. Mason delivered the outlet and Giles jumped, grabbed it and made the scoop layup all in one motion.

After the win, Giles could hardly contain the excitement of playing in his first game in two years.

“Let’s go! That was an amazing moment, man,” Giles said in the hallway.

He continued, “Just hearing the arena rock because of something good you did. You know it’s something we’ve been working on all week, and it’s something that’s going to happen a lot. It gives you something to look forward to.”

Giles was once considered the top high school prospect in the nation, but after undergoing a knee surgery in his freshman year at Duke, he fell to 20th in the 2017 draft. He sat out all of last season but, internally, expectations for him are high. There’s even been talk of him pulling a Ben Simmons and winning Rookie of the Year.

How he bounces back from several knee injuries and plays over the course of an 82-game season is the question. His offensive game is rudimentary but there’s enough there to work with as far as cleaning up the offensive boards and finishing at the rim. Unlike Bagley, he’s less of a question mark on defense. He tries hard and, so far, he’s shown an ability to get out and switch – -summer league caveat and all. He’s talking the talk on that end.

“That’s what they’re playing, like Go at Harry Giles his knee is out,”  Giles said of his defense. “So I’m gonna go in there this year and I’m guarding first. I’m not gonna let them go looking for me, I’m looking for them on defense.”

Summer League was his first NBA action, and he finished his first game with a cut lip.

“Toughness is a thing I can bring every day. I’m never going to let another man feel like he has an advantage over me. That’s never gonna happen, especially in a basketball game. No way. That’s what I do too,” Giles said. “I love this game just like you do, if not more, so I’m gonna go out there and fight for it.”

‘Toughness’ is a good word. ‘Gritty’ and ‘hungry’ work, too. Giles sounds a little like Draymond Green when he’s talking. It’s less an interview and more of a diss track. Or a hype track, depending on his mood. Either way, it’s something the Kings lacked last season and will need moving forward.

“When you see a guy playing like that, you see a guy fighting like that, you don’t want to do anything else but ride with them,” Fox said.

After a promising rookie season, Fox is spending his summer in three places — the weight room, the film room and the 3-point line. He says he’s added about seven pounds of muscle, with the intent of holding up better on drives. Opponents know getting to the rim is his bread and butter, so they will go under screens to limit his air space. He’s been working on his perimeter jumper since entering the league last June, but shot just 30 percent (30.7 to be exact) from deep as a rookie.

“I worked on my game this summer, try to not allow people to go under screens, that’s why I shot a lot of 3s today,” Fox said. “Summer League is where you work on your game and that’s what I’m doing.”

That’s why, in part, the Kings opted to draft Bagley over someone like Luka Doncic. The decision will be rightfully scrutinized for the next 10 or so years, but the Kings believe in Fox and didn’t want to bring someone in who could take the ball out of his hands. Bagley is a cleaner fit and one who, at least theoretically, could help prevent opponents from short circuiting what Fox does best. Giles, too. Both project to be above-average shooters at their position, which could help curb more aggressive pick-and-roll defenses.

For this to work, Fox has to develop a cadence with both big men. Every game, every minute they share the court together is a chance to do that. He’s been watching film of New Orleans-era Chris Paul and Steve Nash’s Phoenix Suns.

Fox certainly doesn’t lack for confidence, saying, “Nash wasn’t as quick as I am but, at a young age, CP was but not as athletic. I try to pull from both their games.” He added: “I think I showed I did a pretty good job at it today but I’m just trying to continue to get better at it.”

The Kings will likely miss the playoffs again this season, but that’s not the point. Growth is more important than results. This is about trusting the, uh, process. They need top draft picks to take real steps forward — something they’ve failed to generate for the better part of this decade. They need to play with more effort on defense and faster on offense.

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After finishing 30th in the NBA in pace last season, the coaching staff has emphasized drag screens and step up screens utilizing Bagley and Giles to help speed up the offense. With other bigs like Willie-Cauley Stein, Skal Labissiere, Kosta Koufos and Zach Randolph still on the roster, Fox will have plenty of dancing partners. He will have to develop a rhythm with all of them, but what he builds with Bagley and Giles will have the largest ripple effects going forward.

The Kings don’t have their first-round pick in 2019 so, for now, it starts and ends with those three. Perhaps Bagley said it best.

“We’re just starting to get to know each other. Those practices the last couple of days really helped us out a lot. We’re feeling each other out and we’re still communicating with each other out there. I think if we continue to play and get better, than it can only go up from here. So I’m excited.”