The Sacramento Kings have been one of the best teams in the NBA over the past two weeks, thanks in large part to Domantas Sabonis. The team’s center has been putting up some of the best numbers of his NBA career, and was named the Western Conference Player of the Week just a few days back.
He is leading the league with his rebounding numbers, which is something we’ve been accustomed to. But Sabonis is also tops in the NBA in another important statistical category that was once one of his shortcomings.
Sabonis Has The Best 3-Point Percentage In The NBA
The 28-year-old out of Gonzaga is in his prime. His arrival in Sacramento coincided with the turnaround for the Kings’ franchise, and he’s played at an all-star level despite his recent snubs.
But one of the knocks on his game was always his ability to stretch the floor. Known for his tough, physical play near the basket, opponents rarely respected Sabonis as a ball handler, often leaving him open when he was within 3-point shooting distance. It was exploited heavily in Sacramento’s playoff series against the Warriors a couple of years ago, when Golden State sagged off of him and dared him to take long range shots.
We saw a marked improvement in 2023-24. Last season, Domantas Sabonis shot an impressive 39% from deep, but only had 87 attempts on the year. He was reliable as a three-point shooter, but didn’t try often enough for defenses to stretch and help when he had the ball on the perimeter.
Sabonis is an All-Star and you can’t tell me otherwise
— KangzMuse (@kings_muse) January 17, 2025
It is clear that the Kings are running more offensive sets that allow their big man to get more long-range attempts, and it is turning out to be a great decision. In the 38 games that Sabonis has played in this year, he has already surpassed last year’s attempt total. He has hoisted 90 threes, coming in at a clip of 2.4 per game (up from 1.1).
But it is his shooting percentage is the part that has been the most impressive. After Thursday’s action. Sabonis is now the NBA leader in three point percentage. He has made 43 of those 90 attempts for a clip of 47.7%, surpassing fellow center Nikola Jokić for the best mark in the league.
The hot shooting is just one of the many successes that Domantas Sabonis has enjoyed this season. He is one of three Kings players averaging 20+ points, and he is on pace to lead the NBA in rebounding for the third straight year. He’s had 5 triple doubles so far, thanks to his 6.3 assists per, which ranks 15th in the league.
