Kings Hit the Panic Button, Roll Out New Starting Five Against Undefeated Grizzlies
Underdog NBA tweeted: 'Lineup alert: Kings will start Acuff Jr., LaVine, Hunter, Achiuwa, Sabonis on Saturday.'
The are officially hitting the panic button on their starting five, and honestly, you can't blame them. When you start a season looking like a layup line for the rest of the league, something has to give.
According to Underdog NBA, is rolling out a brand new starting unit on Saturday: rookie Darius Acuff Jr., Zach LaVine, De'Andre Hunter, Precious Achiuwa, and Domantas Sabonis. This is the basketball equivalent of shaking a vending machine when your chips get stuck. You just hope something falls into place.
The math in right now is grim. The Kings are sitting at a miserable 0-5, boasting a league-worst -16.1 net rating. They are giving up 122.8 points per 100 possessions, which ranks 29th in the NBA. Throwing Achiuwa into the frontcourt next to Sabonis is a clear cry for defensive help, while handing the keys to a rookie point guard in Acuff Jr. just three games into his professional career shows exactly how desperate this coaching staff is for a spark.
For anyone looking at the board this weekend, this lineup shift completely scrambles the usual script. Sabonis is already pulling down an absurd 16.2 rebounds per game, and LaVine is pouring in 26.0 points a night, but the spacing and usage rates are about to look entirely different with Acuff Jr. running the show. Bettors will need to recalibrate how these new pieces share the floor, especially when it comes to player props and defensive rotations.
The timing of this experiment is objectively hilarious. The aren't testing this new group against a lottery team. They are taking this untested five-man unit on the road to face the 5-0 Memphis Grizzlies, who currently look like an absolute buzzsaw. If this new lineup gets run off the floor on Saturday night, 's trip to Dallas on Monday is going to feel like a funeral march.