Sports Illustrated

Jordan Ramirez

"I wouldn’t say I’m chasing anybody," Fox explained to Rohan Nadkarni of Sports Illustrated.

"But what you see of the star guards night-in and night-out, when I talked about being consistent, it’s being able to do that type of stuff every night and put your team in the best position to win. That’s what the elite players in this league are able to do for 82 games."

While Swipa is hopeful of an All-Star berth, No. 5 has much higher goals in mind for himself and Sacramento.

"To be able to bring a team that hasn’t been there for almost two decades back to the playoffs. That’s a personal goal of mine," admitted Fox.

"And then to be a contender. It takes time and it takes some steps to get there, but I don’t think it’s very far-fetched for us to do that."

Fox is averaging 22.3 points and 7.1 assists on 46.6 percent shooting from the field, while still being near the top of the league in clutch scoring.

"The way I look at it is if we’re winning, then people will have no choice but to talk about us. If we’re playing well, then everything speaks for itself."

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Fox: 'I Wouldn't Say I'm Chasing Anybody' in the NBA

Winning seven of their last eight games, Sacramento is in the midst of an incredible stretch of basketball.

Led by De'Aaron Fox and his rise to All-Star status, the Kings have beaten New Orleans, Boston, Denver and the Los Angeles Clippers.

Michael Pina of Sports Illustrated has noticed encouraging developments from Sactown.

"Since Sacramento started to win," Pina notes. "[Fox] has averaged 27 points, eight assists, and four rebounds per game. (Fox’s 10 points per fourth quarter ranks third behind Bradley Beal and Zach LaVine.)"

"Also important: The subtle rearrangement in Fox’s shot selection," Pina continued.

"Last year, he made 29.2% of his threes. Instead of backing away from the arc, an area of the court that’s never been his close friend, Fox has incorporated it over the past few weeks more dramatically than ever before."

On the season, Fox is carrying shooting clips of 48 percent from the floor, 36 percent from deep and a true-shooting percentage of 57 percent.

"Heading into this season, Fox’s longest streak attempting at least five threes in a game was two in a row," penned Pina.

"Today, he’s at eight straight. (Put another way, he’s launched at least seven threes 15 times in his career. Nine of those games have been this season.)

The most fascinating bump has come in spots where he creates the chance for himself. Right now, 20.4% of all of Fox’s shots have been pull-up threes, a massive increase from the past three years, when his frequency lingered between 10–13%."

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Sports Illustrated: Fox Deserves Your Attention

It's the preseason, which means player rankings and annual predictions are running rampant.

Sactown has been no stranger to these rankings, with Sports Illustrated being the latest to rank their top players for this upcoming season.

Coming in at No. 96 is Harrison Barnes, who enters his second season in Sacramento.

"Barnes posted his second best career true shooting percentage in 2019–20," writes Sports Illustrated.

"And he’s one of 20 players to make more than 275 threes at a clip of over 38% in the last two seasons...he’s evolved into a somewhat savvy playmaker"

Next in the rankings is Buddy Hield, who lands at No. 84.

"Hield has the sixth-most threes in basketball over the last four seasons," continued SI. "Of the 16 players with at least 600 made triples in that span, Hield leads the pack in three-point percentage.

"Few players in the league are as talented at one specific skill."

Finally, the highest ranked player on the list comes in at No. 37, De'Aaron Fox.

"He has improved in each of his three NBA seasons, and despite playing in a crowded Western Conference, the Kings are banking on the Kentucky product to lead them to their first postseason appearance since 2006."

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Multiple Kings Named in Sports Illustrated Rankings

Kyle Ramos

Swipa is looking to bring a new meaning to the phrase leap year.

Sports Illustrated recently released a list of 10 players around the Association who look poised to see growth in their game in 2020 with De’Aaron Fox being named amongst them.

Since ringing in the new year, No. 5 has shown that he deserves to be on that list.

The Kings floor general is averaging 23 points, 6.8 assists, and two steals in the first four games of 2020 while helping lead the Kings to a 3-1 record in that span.

Though Swipa has battled injuries early on in his third season, SI’s Elizabeth Swinton wrote that “Fox has shown he has the potential to be a potent threat in the NBA.”

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Fox Tabbed to Make a Leap in 2020

Last year, the Kings had no players ranked in Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 players list. This year was much different.

Sacramento clocked in with three members of its squad on the yearly rankings heading into the 2019-20 campaign.

De’Aaron Fox was the highest ranked Kings player – being tabbed at No. 33 by SI.

“These are exciting times for the Sacramento Kings, who are on the cusp of something because of the way De'Aaron Fox has come of age as a point guard,” wrote Rob Mahoney.

“Some fairly advanced maneuvers found their way into his game early in his second season, providing exciting new means for a player who was already too quick for many opponents.”

The second Sactown representative on the list was Buddy Hield who, like Fox, made the leap from being unranked last year to on the list in 2019. Hield was placed at No. 54 in the Top 100 as Mahoney shared his praise for the sharpshooter.

“Hield can put pressure on a defense just by running the floor, and does so tirelessly,” noted Mahoney.

“Becoming a 20-point scorer based on that shooting, however, requires all sorts of supplemental skills (ball-handling, footwork, intuition, timing, and balance, to name a few) that Hield has in spades.”

Rounding out the Kings inclusion on Sports Illustrated’s list was Harrison Barnes.

HB was included on last year’s edition of the list and made the cut again this year as he was ranked at No. 72.

“It’s encouraging that Barnes is coming off the best three-point shooting season of his career (39.4% on 5.7 attempts per game) and remains a solid, multi-positional defender,” said Mahoney.

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Trio of Kings Tabbed in Top 100 Players List

"If you enjoy basketball, you'll definitely enjoy the Kings," De'Aaron Fox said in Charlotte.

"We're a team that gets up and down, gets after you."

With four members of the Kings organization involved in All-Star festivities, it's safe to say the NBA world is enjoying the young Kings.

In an interview with SI's Andrew Sharp, No. 5 details the transformation that is underway in Sactown.

"If we don't make the playoffs, people will say, 'Ahhh, well, they had a great a season,'" Fox explained.

"With us, internally, we feel like if we don't make the playoffs, it's a failed season. We have higher expectations for ourselves."

Sacramento is currently one game back of the Los Angeles Clippers for the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs, with the Los Angeles Lakers three games behind in the standings.

"I'm excited going back finishing out this playoff race," rookie Marvin Bagley III proclaimed. "The guys that we have here, I think we can do something special."

Charlotte was just the beginning for Fox and his teammates, with a playoff race fully underway and many All-Star Weekend's left to be played.

If one thing was clear this past weekend, it's that the Kings have taken the NBA by storm, and they have no plans to let up anytime soon.

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Fox Talks Sophomore Campaign, Playoffs with SI

Though George Hill usually carries a low-key demeanor on the hardwood, his solid play has spoken volumes for him to the tune of notable media recognition for his on-court savviness.

Prior to each season, Sports Illustrated publishes its annual rankings for the Top 100 players around the NBA and the new Kings point guard cracked the list coming in at No. 63.

The IUPUI product is entering his 10th season in the League and is on the heels of a career year in Utah, scoring a career high 16.9 points per game last season to go with 4.2 assists and 3.4 rebounds per contest. No. 3 also logged a PER of 19.3 - the second highest output of his career.

"Hill is the best of his kind: a smart, disciplined player who pairs perfectly with a playmaking wing," wrote Rob Mahoney. "What really cements Hill’s universal appeal, however, is his defense...Everything that he is and does creates possibilities."

This marks the third consecutive year that Hill has been ranked by Sports Illustrated, originally appearing at No. 80 in 2015.

These initial rankings contain the first half of the Top 100, with players Nos. 100-51 being revealed with Nos. 50-1 set to be named tomorrow.

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George Hill Tabbed as One of NBA’s Elite

Shahbaz Khan

Following an impressive Olympic run and NBA season, DeMarcus Cousins has risen from a No. 14 rank in 2015-16 to No. 12 on Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 Players weeks before the new NBA season begins.

Cousins maintained his double-digit rebounding mark while increasing his scoring average by nearly three points per contest between the 2015 and 2016 seasons. By the end of the 2016 campaign, DMC finished fourth in the League in points per game (first among all centers) while sitting fifth overall in rebounds per game.

“Cousins, 26, had a statistical year for the ages last season (27/12/3/1/1), an all-around stat-stuffing that earned him a spot alongside Hakeem Olajuwon, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the record books,” wrote Ben Golliver of Sports Illustrated.