Domantas Sabonis and the Sacramento Kings had themselves a terrific season. It may not have ended the way they had hoped, losing in the first-round of the playoffs to the Golden State Warriors. But, ending the franchise's 16-year playoff drought has created a new narrative surrounding this organization.
The Kings are now being viewed as a legitimate threat in the Western Conference and general manager Monte McNair deserves a lot of credit for the job he has done building this team.
Not only was he responsible for acquiring Sabonis at the trade deadline a season ago, but McNair created a formidable roster with the additions of Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, rookie Keegan Murray and especially head coach Mike Brown this past offseason.
As a result, McNair was named the NBA's 2022-23 Executive of the Year recently.
During his end of season press conference Wednesday, the Kings' GM also discussed the impact Sabonis had on the team.
“Domas is obviously an All-Star this year and I think should be All-NBA along with De'Aaron [Fox], so we will find that out soon,” McNair stated, via James Ham. “Domas is a huge part of what we do and we're going to do all we can to keep him here and build around him.”
In his first full season with the Kings, Domantas Sabonis played in 79 games. He averaged 19.1 points, 12.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists per game. Sabonis led the league in rebounding for the first time in his career and he led the league in double-doubles (65) as well. He also finished second in triple-doubles this season.
Making a massive impact for Sacramento on the offensive-end of the floor, Sabonis continues to prove his value and will enter the offseason having one more year left on his contract.
Being named an All-Star and likely being named to the All-NBA team, the 27-year-old big man will be extension eligible. It does not appear as if he will be going anywhere anytime soon. The Kings love his production and Domantas Sabonis has really embraced his role as a leader for this organization.