Kings Hit the Panic Button With a Chaotic New Starting Lineup
Underdog NBA reported: 'Lineup alert: Kings will start Acuff Jr., LaVine, Hunter, Achiuwa, Sabonis on Tuesday.'
The are officially in the "throw everything at the wall and see what sticks" phase of the season. According to Underdog NBA, Sacramento is rolling out a Tuesday starting five of ., Zach LaVine, De'Andre Hunter, Precious Achiuwa, and Domantas Sabonis against the Orlando Magic.
This is the kind of lineup you end up with in a 2K simulation when you accidentally leave the trade override on and just start mashing buttons. With Keegan Murray sidelined, the are desperately trying to find a combination of five guys who can actually get a defensive stop.
You cannot really blame them for shuffling the deck. Sacramento is sitting at a miserable 1-9 on the year, bleeding points at a historic rate. They currently rank 28th in the league with a 121.5 defensive rating, meaning opposing offenses are basically treating them like a layup line.
The backcourt pairing of Acuff and LaVine is pure, unadulterated chaos. Acuff is a rookie with an absolute green light who recently hoisted 26 shots to get his 33 points, while LaVine is still getting his usual volume. Putting them together guarantees the are going to shoot until the rims need replacing.
Down low, Sabonis is left doing his usual manual labor. He is pulling down a comical 14.6 rebounds and dishing over seven assists a night just to keep the offense breathing. For the prop market sickos, this lineup is a usage-rate fever dream where Sabonis vacuums up every available board while Hunter and Achiuwa strictly focus on survival.
We will see if this chaotic group can actually string together four quarters of basketball when the Orlando Magic come to town. If they get run off their home floor again to drop to 1-10, Sacramento might have to start holding open tryouts for perimeter defenders by Wednesday morning.