How good Domantas Sabonis really is?

[Ryoga Hibiki]

I like this video that dropped yesterday:

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I think this is an example of someone having unusual strengths and weaknesses and people being very rigid on what is necessary to win at high level.
It was the same with Jokic, who though is so good that totally broke some analysts thinking process.
But I feel that those same people have not been challenging their own approach but just look at Nikola as an exception.
I think Domas can be the same at a much lower level, but he will need some good breaks to show it.
What I like the most that it's shown here is that this kind of player can enable up to four other players to be always in attack mode as he's the one making most of the decisions. And all these guys can play two man games with him or cut off ball with good chance of success.

is he Jokic? No, not even close, but he's a solid all NBA player.

[UcanUwill]

I like his ability to grab a rebound and run on fast break right away, I think its a real advantage some bigger players now can have. Domantas' handle seem lose, but it works, he is very comfotable with it. I do however think he is not the passer or playmaker as his stats suggest, he gets a lot of assists from hand off screen action, and his teammates are just good shooters in those situations. He is not Jokić, where the guy finds and creates stuff from scratch entirely. You can teach other guys what Domantas does, I feel. But you can't teach them what Jokić does, with him it is natural basketball genius.

[TrentTuckerRule]

He's exceptionally strong physically and has very solid fundamentals.

He's on the longest double-double streak on a team which had Chris Webber, Vlade and Boogie on the roster.

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[gavran]

About 7.

[BelgradeNugget]

The best Sabonis ever

[FreeBird23]

Good enough to be an All-Star....oh wait...

[LessEyeTest]

He's exceptionally strong physically and has very solid fundamentals.

He's on the longest double-double streak on a team which had Chris Webber, Vlade and Boogie on the roster.

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Wasn’t he in during big deficit garbage time against the Nuggets to try and keep his record alive? And didn’t he get hurt for doing it?

[hauntedcomputer]

Teammates matter.

[hauntedcomputer]

Teammates matter.

Could he be jokic if he were on the Nuggets? No, but he'd be all-star and all-NBA and possibly a champion.

[mikejames23]

He's good enough to get the Kings to the playoffs and frankly his numbers look pretty strong. He has around 10 W/S and 129 O -Rating, which is really really good as well. I would love to see him featured on a title contender, to really get a meter of how good he is. He's 27, def. in his prime.

[1993Playoffs]

How’s his defense/ is it playoff payable.?

[MessiahUjiri]

He’s a discount Jokic.

His outside shooting needs to be better, and the Kings need an elite defensive forward. Someone like OG Anunoby.

[ConSarnit]

Teammates matter.

Could he be jokic if he were on the Nuggets? No, but he'd be all-star and all-NBA and possibly a champion.

You think the Nuggets could win the title with Sabonis in place of Jokic?

I would wager no team starting Sabonis could win a title. He’s still a defensive liability and his offense, while good, is not good enough to overcome his flaws. Now, I’ve said similar things about Jokic in the past but a) Jokic is a better defender than Sabonis and b) for any defensive issues Jokic might have he makes up for them by being one of the best offensive players of all-time (something Sabonis is not).

[God Squad]

Teammates matter.

Could he be jokic if he were on the Nuggets? No, but he'd be all-star and all-NBA and possibly a champion.

You think the Nuggets could win the title with Sabonis in place of Jokic?

I would wager no team starting Sabonis could win a title. He’s still a defensive liability and his offense, while good, is not good enough to overcome his flaws. Now, I’ve said similar things about Jokic in the past but a) Jokic is a better defender than Sabonis and b) for any defensive issues Jokic might have he makes up for them by being one of the best offensive players of all-time (something Sabonis is not).

If anything if you swap Sabonis/Jokic I think the Kings supporting cast is enough to win a chip. But then again, I rate Jokic and think he's the best in the league.

With that said Sabonis doesn't need to be Jokic, and the Kings are doing great things lately compared to their past.

[UcanUwill]

Is Sabonis really that bad on defense? He is not shot blocker, he is just not, but he seems so strong and agile and has great stamina. I don't think he is exactly Kanter or Valančiūnas even. I get that C who does not block shots is a huge flaw, but it seems a bit overblown in this case, no?

[BoogieTime]

Is Sabonis really that bad on defense? He is not shot blocker, he is just not, but he seems so strong and agile and has great stamina. I don't think he is exactly Kanter or Valančiūnas even. I get that C who does not block shots is a huge flaw, but it seems a bit overblown in this case, no?

He's a solid defender other than blocking shots

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Teammates matter.

Could he be jokic if he were on the Nuggets? No, but he'd be all-star and all-NBA and possibly a champion.

You think the Nuggets could win the title with Sabonis in place of Jokic?

I would wager no team starting Sabonis could win a title. He’s still a defensive liability and his offense, while good, is not good enough to overcome his flaws. Now, I’ve said similar things about Jokic in the past but a) Jokic is a better defender than Sabonis and b) for any defensive issues Jokic might have he makes up for them by being one of the best offensive players of all-time (something Sabonis is not).

if you have the right team around him, you definitely can win with Domas starting. Just not is if your best player, as it's true for all but like MAYBE 10 guys today.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Is Sabonis really that bad on defense? He is not shot blocker, he is just not, but he seems so strong and agile and has great stamina. I don't think he is exactly Kanter or Valančiūnas even. I get that C who does not block shots is a huge flaw, but it seems a bit overblown in this case, no?

no he isn't, this is mostly a matter of prejudice.
you can build a very good playoff defense with Sabonis the same way you can do it with Jokic.
But you need the right personnel to complement him.

[jowglenn]

He’s very good - the term “poor man’s Jokic” is unfair; Jokic is a billionaire’s player, Sabonis is the millionaire’s version. He doesn’t have Jokic’s shooting or the same level of insane passing from every angle; he’s not as elite. But he’s got the similar role and impact just at a lesser degree

[Drakeem]

I never liked the Jokic/Sabonis comparison just because while their end results seem similar on the stat sheet, they go about it a lot differently. Sabonis is much more of a grinder, and much less naturally gifted than Jokic offensively. A lot of his assists come from more set plays and amazing screen action rather than that natural wizard vision to be able to spot the play before it happens. Even to score baskets, Sabonis plays much more grind it out ball. He almost reminds me of a Randolph with additional focus on distributing.

Having said that, he's good, really good. I refuse to define his career off of one bad post season series. He is far and away the Kings best player, and he's the reason their results look so great. I don't think he can ever be a true #1 but If they had an elite scorer to pair with him (sorry Fox, you're a good player but KD/Kawhi/Tatum/etc you are not) the Kings could be dangerous.