Sacramento Kings: What Can Ryan Hollins Bring To Sac-Town?

The Sacramento Kings have continued to pad out their roster for the upcoming season in the past few days, with the official announcement of deals that everyone anticipated, and one which was much more unexpected. In the former category, the trade of Jason Terry to Houston was finalized, seeing Alonzo Gee and Scotty Hopson move the opposite way, while Omri Casspi‘s signing was also confirmed. Then to cap things off, the Kings signed Ryan Hollins.

First reported by Yahoo! Sports, Hollins is believed to have signed on in Sacramento on a guaranteed one-year deal, which was enough to see off interest from the likes of the Miami Heat, Detroit Pistons, Chicago Bulls and San Antonio Spurs. Having spent the past two seasons in LA with the Clippers, signing with the Kings allowed Hollins move team without leaving his home state of California too.

Hollins is an NBA veteran at the age of 29, and the Sacramento Kings will be his seventh different franchise in nine years as a professional. Although he’s very much the type of journeyman player that fills out benches around the NBA, Hollins has picked up a number of skills, and will have every chance to make an impact in Sacramento.

In many ways Hollins’ signing makes sense, and according to Marc J. Spears’ article for Yahoo! Sports, the Kings see Hollins filling a specific void.

"The Kings, who like Holllins’ shot blocking ability, could use him alongside forward-center DeMarcus Cousins in a big lineup, the source said."

Although they have a roster packed with power forwards, there’s no doubt that as a true center, Hollins will provide the team with different options. Whether that proves to be slotting in as part of a really big lineup with Cousins, or indeed providing backup with Sim Bhullar off the bench for the Kings’ star center remains to be seen.

The Pasadena native has played in both really good teams, and really bad teams in his time in the league, and with that comes a lot of positives. Hollins knows how bad it feels to lose, and has learned his lessons from that, while at the same time in cities like Boston and LA, he got a taste for winning, and one which he surely strives to replicate at that.

The biggest compliment that can be paid to Hollins is that when he’s on the court, you never get the sense that he’s a player who is popular among the opposition. Hollins is a nuisance, his game is all about energy and desire, and they’re two things that the Sacramento Kings could undoubtedly do with. They’re skills that have led to a top class coach like Doc Rivers twice signing the former UCLA Bruin, and now he’ll be hoping to impress with the Kings.

The 29-year-old has never averaged more than 17 minutes per game for an NBA season, and that may be unlikely to change in his time in Sac-Town. During the brief time Hollins finds himself on the court though, expect him to leave his mark with his work inside.

Hollins is an efficient scorer around the hoop, although he won’t provide volume, while his contagious energy should help Sacramento to grab many rebounds they don’t deserve on defense and offense.

If Ryan Hollins can add a handful of blocks into the mix too, Sacramento won’t be able to help but feel they’ve got value for money. Even if his role only amounts to trying to prevent a significant drop-off when DeMarcus Cosuins takes a break, Hollins will have a fair chance to contribute and show his worth in Sacramento.