The Sacramento Kings haven't been able to get their first-round draft pick on the floor very much lately, but head coach Ty Corbin isn't looking at sending him down to the D-League to get him some playing time...at least not yet, anyway.
Nik Stauskas didn't play in Sacramento's last two games - a tough 117-108 loss to the LA Clippers on Saturday and a close 98-94 loss to the Blazers on Monday - but Corbin told Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee that the D-League 'isn't an option' for the rookie shooting guard. Stauskas is averaging 14.1 minutes per game so far this season, but the biggest problem has clearly been his shooting.
Right now, Stauskas is a shooting guard who can't shoot. Drafted to be a long-distance threat who could help the Kings space the floor with his outside game, Stauskas is shooting an brutal .333 mark from the field and an even worse .272 from behind the three-point line. In his senior year at Michigan, Stauksas shot .503 from the field and .449 from behind the arc.
The Kings have quietly put Stauskas on the trading block in their search for frontcourt reinforcements, but they haven't found any takers. Also standing in Stauskas' way is the improved play of Ben McLemore - the second-year player out of Kansas hasn't been exceptional, but he's been consistently better than Stauskas.
Coach Corbin explained Stauskas' DNP-CDs by saying he didn't like the matchups against the Clippers and the Blazers, but that explanation can only go so far if the rookie continues to find his opportunities limited. Sacramento hosts Brooklyn Wednesday before starting a five-game road trip down in the Bay Area against the Golden State Warriors on Friday. If Stauskas still can't get on the court on Sacramento's road trip, Corbin might want to seriously consider sending him down to Reno for some playing time.
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