Domantas Sabonis in the pinch for De’Aaron Fox and Keegan Murray

Sacramento has accelerated its transformation in recent months with the arrival of Domantas Sabonis in February, the Draft of Keegan Murray which already seems “NBA Ready”, then the arrival of elements like Kevin Huerter or Malik Monk. Mike Brown’s group delivered a remarkable first performance against the Lakers (+30) and will take advantage of the preseason to continue to refine their game.

Back from EuroBasket, Domantas Sabonis spoke about what looks like a real new start for this Sacramento team, which has taken advantage of the last few weeks to get to know each other better.

“We are no longer as shy as at the beginning”, he said in particular. “We were too respectful and we didn’t want to step on each other’s toes. Now we’ve all put that aside, we trash talk, we can give it our all, and go for it without restraint.

Axis 1-5, the lethal weapon

On the ground too, the collective is developing its strengths a little more every day. The 1-5 axis between De’Aaron Fox and the Lithuanian pivot will be one of the main threats on the Californian side.

“We both know how to pick-and-roll. He is open and listens to what I want to do. And me, I’m open too, I listen to what he wants to do and where he needs to receive the ball. We know each other’s tendencies. It worked very well. The more we do this year, the more we will develop this cohesion”.

Domantas Sabonis ensures that in view of the talent, speed and game vision of his sidekick, the options remain numerous in the two-player game that they can offer.

“When he is hot, the teams will try to take him to two. We can make him play without the ball, on pass-and-go, passing game. It’s hard to defend, you defend against a guy who doesn’t have the ball, but who is really fast. He can go behind you and do a “curl” so that I pass the ball to him. There are plenty of options in this two-player game,” he added.

Keegan Murray to top it off?

At his side, he also continues to discover Keegan Murray, who rose to the occasion in the first preseason game (16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 assist in 21 minutes). This is one more element that can help Sacramento move forward. The pivot has in any case been pleasantly surprised so far.

“He knows how to shoot. He was awesome all through training camp. I’m just excited to finally see him play in an NBA game. There are going to be games where he will explode. He is always in the right place at the right time. He is an intelligent player who knows when to shoot and when to drive. He is athletic. He can outflank guys and make the right reads by giving the ball to other shooters when the defense is collapsing. It’s all up to him and how quickly he can feel comfortable.”

With these new strengths, Domantas Sabonis is banking on the progress of his group over the season to try to end the 16-year drought without playoffs for the franchise.

“We think about fighting and becoming a better team. The show has been going on for 16 years, so it doesn’t have much to do with us. But it’s clear that if we do our job, things will work out. Every team has this mentality at the start of training camp, to be able to get this special award at the end of the year. If we work in this direction, good things can happen to us”.