Sacramento Kings: The New Guy from Ole Miss

As Sacramento Kings enthusiasts wade through the swamp of late summer, chances are they, like all NBA fans, are in need of some excitement.

Sacramento’s excitement (to spend the word freely) has largely been in the form of middling acquisitions and high school gossip about the whether the new kid in town will be much of a trouble-maker, or whether the coolest kid on school will drive the teacher to quit his job after less than a year.

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But fear not, seekers of news: we have ourselves a bona fide Rascal Alert. This is what’s coming to training camp:

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Marshall Henderson, formerly of the University of Utah, South Plains College, and of course, the University of Mississippi, is joining the Kings in the lead-up to the 2015-16 season for training camp. Since his glory (infamy? tyranny?) days with Ole Miss, Henderson’s voluminous personality and cannon-fire shooting have been largely out of the public eye.

His time in college ended on a sour note, with Marshall battling a growing image not only as a glaring cymbal crash in the middle of the great collegiate basketball symphony, but as a young man with drug issues.

Following the stage curtain dropping heavily on his head, Henderson’s NBA hopes dimmed, and eventually he was forced to reconcile the fact that no spotlight would shine on him in the league. The phone would remain silent, and the echoes of his on-court barking would fade into memory.

There were those in other corners of the world, it turned out, who would come calling. Henderson ended up with three brief professional stints in Italy, then a stop in Qatar, and finally a tour of duty in Iraq.

Feb 4, 2014; Lexington, KY, USA; Mississippi Rebels guard Marshall Henderson (22) reacts during the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

No, no, no – playing for the Nift Al-Janoub team in Baghdad, of course. Since his late- and post-collegiate travails, Henderson had been hoping for a second chance from the American basketball community, for whom he seemed likely to become a footnote.

With this Sacramento training camp invite, a sliver of light shows from beneath that once-heavy curtain.

So beyond a, shall we say, passionate presence on the court, what will Henderson bring to his second-chance opportunity? He shot .346 from thee-point range during his two years at Ole Miss, with .430 from two and .857 from the line. He is essentially a pure shooter, with his offensive contributions being nearly 90 percent comprised of jumpers, per Synergy Sports.

Though he is physically capable of throwing down a dunk, don’t expect to see him making a name for himself through the fine art of tomahawk jamming. Besides, it’s frankly not as exciting to see him reach the rim as it is to see him catapult a 35-footer at the buzzer.

These not only showcase the unique clutch abilities that made Henderson’s name as much as his theatrics, but were he to carve a path into the league, it would have to be as a sharpshooter.

How he gets those shots is also important. He’s a scrambler, putting in as much work without the ball as possible to put himself in a favorable spot. Given his range, those spots are more common for him than your average sniper.

Whether he makes it out of this camp and onto the roster is (to muffle reality) questionable. He’s knocking on the door of 25 years old, and his skill set is not unique to him. He’s 6-foot-2, which is obviously not a backcourt disqualification, but he’s also built like a handful of Dixon Ticonderogas.

Even if it undergoes some changes this offseason, Willie Cauley-Stein‘s lean frame will be an asset, and gives him a unique edge. Henderson’s physique is a liability, given that many of the league’s top defenders will want to have him inspecting both their elbows and the floorboards.

You know what, though? I want to see Henderson in the NBA, especially on a team like the Kings.

If you were someone fortunate enough to attend Ole Miss during his reign, you had to love Henderson’s all-out mania, and his willingness not only to throw up highlight reel-ready shots, but to remind hostile fans of the opposition that he had just done so.

If the Kings are going to finish their time at the Sleep Train Arena on the treadmill of mediocrity, it would be fun to have someone for the fans to rally around.

If the team’s narrative and media personality are defined by simmering brooders like DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo, and a latter-era George Karl, Henderson would certainly pump up the volume and give some spice to the Kings’ product.

If the Kings’ shooting specialists are Seth Curry, Duje Dukan, Marco Belinelli, and Caron Butler, Henderson would be a ghost pepper in that group’s oatmeal. Imagine him, fluttering his Kings jersey at Timberwolves fans; screaming at Nik Stauskas in Philadelphia; flipping off Dyan Cannon at Lakers games.

If Golden State has the Baby-Faced Assassin, why shouldn’t the Kings have the Chin-Strapped Mercenary?

It’s only a dream from which Henderson will likely have to wake – but I too can imagine what that dream must be like. I can read the banners along the streets of Sacramento now: WELCOME MARSHALL HENDERSON. NOW WE’RE COOKING WITH GAS!