With Kings head coach George Karl set to go begin his first training camp with the Sacramento Kings next month, it will be a crucial time for him to fully install the style of basketball he wants Sacramento to play on offense.

The Kings star center DeMarcus Cousins will certainly be a key aspect of that strategy, but Zach Harper of CBS Sports speculated that Karl could get even more out of Boogie by using him in a similar fashion as a previous star Karl coached; Carmelo Anthony.

“While it's obvious that Anthony and Cousins are very much different players who occupy different positions, the way in which they attack and the distribution of their respective shots are relatively similar,” Harper explained.

Harper’s point was illustrated by comparing shot charts of both Cousins and Anthony during the games in which the played under Karl. The chart reflected Anthony in his last season on the Nuggets and Cousins in the 19 games with Coach Karl at the helm last season.

As the chart shows, both Cousins and Melo had tendencies to take and make mid-range shots at the left and right elbow, respectively, while also recording a large amount of their field goal attempts at or around the rim.

Harper also noted an intriguing difference between the two players in Karl’s offense.

“It's interesting to see that Cousins actually ran more often under Karl last season than Melo did in his final season with Karl, and with Cousins showing year after year that his midrange jumper is reliable, those spot-up opportunities could end up being even more of a weapon.”

Harper goes on to discuss other differences between the two, like Cousins’ more prominent willingness and ability to pass the ball and noted Boogie’s 20.4 percent assist rate last season, which was good for 4th best in the NBA amongst big men.

Overall, however, Harper’s article concluded that having a versatile scoring machine like Cousins could bring the Kings into elite territory in terms of offensive rating, something Coach Karl is very familiar with as his Nuggets team topped the NBA in offensive rating during the 2010-11 season.

“A full training camp with a more veteran group than any roster Cousins has played with should provide a more reliable attack surrounding him on a consistent basis,” Harper wrote. “The baseline for getting the Kings' offense to an elite level is there with Cousins as the go-to guy.”

Harper continues to discuss the ways in which the rest of the roster compares to that successful 2010-11 Denver Nuggets team.

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