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These numbers may be a bit surprising to some when you consider Evans' outstanding offensive production, but there are a few numbers that may explain why the Kings are worse with Evans on the floor. The two key numbers that immediately jump out are that the Kings score the ball with a 48.1% effective field goal percentage with Evans on the floor, but jump to 50.8% when he's on the bench. Similarly, the Kings are assisted on 58% of their field goals without Evans, but with him in, the number plummets to 51%. On the season, only one team in the entire league is assisted on less than 51% of their field goals (Memphis).

There are other reasons beyond on court/off court numbers suggesting why Evans is not yet conducive to winning basketball, as his True Shooting % is below the league average of 54.5%, at 52.8%. This likely isn't something to be highly concerned about, as plenty of players have seen their TS% trend upward in their early careers, but right now, Evans' TS% is below all of his noteworthy backcourt teammates, one reason they're better with him on the bench.

Looking at the rookie seasons of some other stars in the league, there are lots of reasons not to read too much into some of these numbers. Lebron James and Kevin Durant, for example, both posted much lower TS% numbers as rookies, while they now rank among the best in the league in those categories (on ridiculously high usage to boot). For James this was mostly a matter of improving his jump shooting and shot selection to be on the same level with the rest of his game, while for Durant it was a combination of becoming a better finisher at the rim, getting to the line more, and improving his shot selection.

Looking at the plus/minus numbers, Durant had even worse numbers as a rookie, but that was due primarily to defensive shortcomings, something that is arguably easier to fix when you have such elite tools like Durant does (with his shortcomings being mostly a matter of effort, fundamentals, awareness, and coaching). up to 46.0% eFG% from 42.5%, while also getting to the line at a considerably higher rate. It's yet to be seen if Evans' different effects on his team's performance can be similarly improved, and one must also consider Evans doesn't have nearly the same elite physical tools as these two.

Looking at the rookie seasons of some other stars in the league, there are lots of reasons not to read too much into some of these numbers. Lebron James and Kevin Durant, for example, both posted much lower TS% numbers as rookies, while they now rank among the best in the league in those categories (on ridiculously high usage to boot). For James this was mostly a matter of improving his jump shooting and shot selection to be on the same level with the rest of his game, while for Durant it was a combination of becoming a better finisher at the rim, getting to the line more, and improving his shot selection.