Contrary to popular belief, Kings general manager Monte McNair believes his team will continue to make strides defensively.
At the start of training camp, McNair entertained the idea that his team lacked defensive improvements over the offseason, during which Sacramento landed six-time NBA All-Star DeMar DeRozan.
DeRozan is an undeniable offensive force, averaging at least 20.1 points per game in each of his last 11 NBA seasons. And, according to McNair, there’s defensive upside to the guard, too.
"I think the biggest thing for us, one thing I'll say is DeMar was part of a top-five defense in Chicago, he's been a part of some good defenses in San Antonio and Toronto,” McNair told Sactown Sports' Carmichael Dave and Jason Ross on Monday.
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As Sacramento made a late playoff push last season, coach Mike Brown shifted his team’s focus to defense.
It worked.
The Kings improved in front of the ball, matching energy and physicality with some of the league’s most offensively gifted teams before falling short of a second consecutive playoff appearance.
This season, with new faces in the mix, McNair sees his team continuing to improve defensively while leveraging its offensive firepower.
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But, more importantly, McNair just wants to win.
“So, I think he can be a part of a good defense here,” McNair told Sactown Sports. “I think we made strides last year. At the same time, I don't care how we get it done. There's been teams that have succeeded with the No. 1 offense and maybe more of an average defense, and vice versa.
“We saw some of that in recent years, so I think what we're always trying to get to is we need to figure out a way that we can, on any given night, beat that team -- however we got to do it.
“I think last year we showed we can actually win with defense.”
The Kings parted ways with Harrison Barnes, Davion Mitchell, Sasha Vezenkov and Chris Duarte this summer, but they acquired Jalen McDaniels in a trade, signed Jordan McLaughlin, re-signed Alex Len and Malik Monk, and drafted Devin Carter.
Perhaps Brown and Co. didn’t add a bona fide elite defender to pair with DeRozan. To McNair, however, Sacramento counts on lots of new defensive talent.
“I think you're maybe underrating some of our defenders,” McNair told Sactown Sports. “At the same time, I would say we add guys like McLaughlin, Carter when he gets healthy, McDaniels, that will help boost our defense as well.
“Ultimately, I don't care how it gets done, as long as we end up with more points at the end of the game, and I think we'll have a lot of ways to do that."
Ultimately, wins are what matter in the NBA, and the Kings’ focus is that.