Free Agency Analysis: Daniel Kickert Returning to Sydney

Thursday, September 3, 2020

With free agency underway, NBL Media’s Liam Santamaria is taking a look at each and every signing and breaking down what it all means ahead of #NBL21.

With free agency underway, NBL Media’s Liam Santamaria is taking a look at each and every signing and breaking down what it all means ahead of #NBL21.

Signing Snapshot: Daniel Kickert back to the Kings

Signed by: Sydney Kings

The deal: One year

Age: 37

2019-20 team: Sydney Kings

2019-20 stats (per game): 8.7 points, 3.1 rebounds, 53.9 FG%, 50.5 3P%, 86.8 FT%

Projected role: Back-up big.

Quote: “I’m enjoying the direction the club is heading and love being a part of it, so for me to have an opportunity to play another year here is both exciting and very rewarding for me.” – Daniel Kickert

My take: This is a smart re-signing by the Kings.

Kickert ain’t getting any younger, that’s true, but he was outstanding in a reserve role last season, finishing second in Best Sixth Man voting despite playing only 16 minutes per game.

A lot of credit for that should go to Will Weaver. Knowing he had a serious weapon on his hands if he used it correctly, the Kings coach did a brilliant job in NBL20 of maximising Kickert’s strengths and minimising his weaknesses.

What the veteran big man does best, of course, is shoot the rock. I mean, the guy is one of the greatest shooters our league has ever seen and last season he continued to splash three-balls with incredible efficiency. Indeed, he led the league in three-point percentage, shooting an insane 50 percent on over three long range attempts per game. That’s just ridiculous and what makes it even more valuable is the fact that he strokes it like that from the five spot, completely bending opponents’ defensive schemes. Weaver knows this… so when Kickert is on the floor the Kings are locked into leveraging his shooting in a variety of ways.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Kick it like Kickert. <br><br>18 PTS in 19 MINS, that'll get you the Bunnings POG nod ??<a href="https://twitter.com/kicks14?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@kicks14</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CNSatSYD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CNSatSYD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBL20?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBL20</a> <a href="https://t.co/mkJjVS5NSC">pic.twitter.com/mkJjVS5NSC</a></p>— The NBL (@NBL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NBL/status/1215914114221895680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 11, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Down the other end, the slow-footed centre has long been criticized for being a sub-standard defender however last season he was actually pretty effective, thanks largely to the role Weaver asked him to play. Instead of having him follow his man up to ball-screens and chase ball-handlers out on the perimeter, the clever coach had Kickert employ the deep-drop coverage on pick-and-rolls; de-emphasising his lack of quickness and, instead, highlighting his size, smarts and communication.

All in all, this is a pairing that works well and it makes sense that Chris Pongrass, Weaver and Kickert would all want to keep it together.

The question is: how will his role change in the absence of Andrew Bogut? I actually don’t think it will. At this stage of his career Kickert is best utilised exactly how he was last season and it will largely be up to others – guys like Xavier Cooks and Jordan Hunter (and maybe also their currently unsigned second import) – to pick up those extra centre minutes in NBL21.