Here’s Why The Sacramento Kings Should Give Keon Ellis More Minutes

No team wants to begin their season winless. That’s where the Sacramento Kings find themselves after two close losses to the Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Timberwolves. More concerning than the losses to two playoff teams, though, is the disappearance of Keon Ellis.

Last season, Ellis carved out a rotation spot for the Kings as a key three-and-D piece. They found an undrafted gem in Ellis, who played 25.7 minutes per game after March 1 in 2023-24. To begin the 2024-25 season, he played 11 minutes against Minnesota and zero against the Lakers.

What Makes Keon Ellis Such A Useful Player?

Ellis emerged as one of the better young defensive players in the NBA. Defensive Estimated Plus-Minus viewed Ellis (plus-1.4, 95th percentile) as Sacramento’s best defender last season. He generated turnovers at an elite level, evidenced by his 2.6 percent steal rate and 2.8 percent block rate.

In his limited minutes this season, Ellis continued his turnover-creating ways, notching two steals against the Wolves. He lost to Anthony Edwards on a couple of plays, but his energy and positioning were sharp as always.

keon ellis lost a few times to edwards in the wolves game but the turnover generation was still present, even in limited mins pic.twitter.com/FH2cMWsAOc

— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) October 27, 2024

Ellis’s presence as an off-ball defender lessens the load on Keegan Murray, who must sprint all over the floor as the team’s lone excellent defender. With another heady off-ball defender like Ellis, Murray won’t have to expend as much energy rotating across the court, closing out and changing directions. 

For some reason, head coach Mike Brown hasn’t turned much to Ellis yet. Based on how he played last season, it’s an inexcusable decision. Sacramento’s early season defensive struggles make the decision all the more perplexing. They gave up 32 to Edwards, and 26 combined points to Dalton Knecht and Austin Reaves.

A defense constructed around Domantas Sabonis must find ways to protect the basket outside of the center spot. Ellis was a deterrent at the rim last season, always providing timely low-man help. Among guards, only John Konchar and Derrick White posted a higher block rate than Ellis last season. 

keon ellis supremacy!!! pic.twitter.com/nGFvBswByh

— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) August 19, 2024

Kevin Huerter’s return from injury seems to have squeezed Ellis out of the rotation. Brown ostensibly prefers his diverse offensive skillset compared to Ellis’s more limited usage. But Huerter isn’t nearly the defender that Ellis is, bleeding points on that end. It’s fair to attribute some of the Kings’s defensive struggles early in the season to Huerter’s presence.

Playing Huerter over Ellis doesn’t make sense, given Sacramento’s offensively slanted roster. Even if Huerter does more with the ball than Ellis, should he see significant touches while sharing the court with De’Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, DeMar DeRozan and Keegan Murray? Ellis still provides the same off-ball spacing — he shot 41.7 percent on 6.4 three-point attempts per 75 possessions last year — all while defending at a much higher level.

Once again, Brown can’t seem to get out of his own way. Kings fans complained about his tendency to stick with Harrison Barnes last season amidst his major defensive and decision-making struggles. Though not as extreme, Huerter shares some of the same tendencies.

The Kings still have an entire season to make this right. If this team hopes to reach its peak, it must play one of its top perimeter defenders significant minutes. Keon Ellis has earned that much, at the very least.