Syracuse added their second player through the transfer portal on Wednesday, getting Nate Kingz to commit after playing last season with Oregon State. Kingz has had a vagabond feel to his collegiate career, playing one season and stepping up in level of play repeatedly, going from Westmont to the College of Southern Idaho to last season with the Beavers after missing a year due to a torn ACL.
As he climbs the ladder another rung higher, what is SU getting with the addition of Kingz, a 6’5” shooting guard?
Let’s get the primary thing out of the way. Kingz is an excellent shooter. His year-by-year shooting percentages (field goal, 3-point field goal, free throw):
Westmont - 47.1/34.2/72.9
Southern Idaho - 51.5/38.4/85.1
Oregon State - 50.4/44.6/81.8
The 3-point shooting is the obvious reason the Orange brought him in. Those gaudy numbers are built on pretty strong number of attempts, as his 4.2 attempts from beyond the arc this past season is the lowest mark of the three seasons. All of his 3’s this season were assisted this past season, save for one, so there is a significant catch-and-shoot facet to his long-range marksmanship.
Perimeter shooting treated as a deficiency for SU this season, but the overall season-long numbers do not tell the full story. As a team, Syracuse shot 32.8 percent from 3-point range, which barely had them in the top 250 of Division One. The Orange, however, got better as the season went on, shooting 36.6 percent on 3’s from January 22 to the end of the season.
The problem with those numbers is the guys who were making all those 3’s late in the season are no longer on the roster, but one returnee who struggled from long range is back in J.J. Starling. If you take Starling off the stat sheet, the Orange shot 34.5 percent on 3’s on the season (which would have placed them somewhere between 155th and 160th in the country) and 40.8 percent from January 22 on.
So, the addition of Kingz is an effort to offset Starling’s shooting issues. But, while SU’s work in the portal has barely gotten underway, his addition creates another issue on the roster.
Neither Starling or Kingz is a point guard. I’ve written at length about Starling being a poor fit for the one and Kingz had 52 assists in 31 games at Oregon State last year. While Kingz only had 25 turnovers, that is probably a function of him not being much of a creator as opposed to being a mark of superior ball security.
Neither Starling or Kingz is a small forward, either. Kingz is listed at 6’5” and 190 pounds and Starling at 6’4”, 200. Neither has the size to play defense and rebound at small forward and neither is a particularly stellar defender at the two, either.
So, how will the Orange compensate for this, should Starling and Kingz both start? Will they bring in a point guard with size to help out on defense and the boards? A bigger small forward to play the perimeter with them? Lean into the athleticism of Donnie Freeman or Sadiq White at the three and utilize a big frontcourt?
Or, are the starting point guard and small forward still out there in the portal with Kingz viewed as a bench player to essentially fill the role Chris Bell did this past season for SU, coming in as an instant offense option? And, if that is the plan, are there minutes available for Kiyan Anthony?
The “instant offense off the bench” role seems to make the most sense for Kingz, but the roster is starting to take on the feel of “Oops, all wings”.
Getting Kingz is understandable. But, his addition creates as many new questions as it does answers old ones.
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