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Kings Notes: Ellis, Huerter, Injuries, Jones, Brown, Murray, DeRozan

October 7th, 2024 at 11:51am CST by Luke Adams

There’s no question that Domantas Sabonis, De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan, and Keegan Murray will be part of the Kings‘ starting lineup this fall, but the fifth member of that group has yet to be locked in, as James Ham of The Kings Beat and Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee write.

Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, and Keon Ellis are all realistic candidates to start at shooting guard for Sacramento. However, it seems likely that Monk will reprise the sixth-man role he thrived in last season. Huerter, meanwhile, hasn’t yet been cleared for full-contact work after undergoing surgery in late March to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

That may make Ellis the frontrunner to start alongside Fox in Sacramento’s backcourt. As Anderson writes, Ellis’ ability to play good defense and to operate on offense without the ball in his hands also makes him a good fit in the team’s starting group, whereas Monk and Huerter could handle a larger offensive load with the second unit.

“If you think about it, Keon, out of all three of those guys, is probably the one who will command the least amount of shots and/or the time the ball is in his hands,” head coach Mike Brown said last week. “He’s shown the last two years that he’s a capable catch-and-shoot shooter, and if you leave him open, he’ll make you pay on the catch-and-shoot shot from the three-point line. He shot 40-something percent from three in both years, so for us that is a little bit of a factor, making sure we put the right combinations on the floor that fit instead of just trying to throw guys out there because we think those guys can all score the best.”

Here’s more on the Kings:

  • Huerter, who was cleared for on-court workouts near the end of August, said he’s feeling good about the progress he’s made and is eager to advance to the final stage of his rehab process, per Anderson. “The last step for me is really just getting 5-on-5 full contact,” Huerter said. “I haven’t gone contact against a player yet. I haven’t been cleared to do that, but everything else. I’ve been 1-on-0 for four months now. … Itching to get back and go against somebody else.”
  • The Kings are battling the injury bug this fall, with Huerter and Devin Carter recovering from shoulder surgeries and Trey Lyles (groin), Jordan McLaughlin (ankle), and Orlando Robinson (knee) all dealing with health issues of their own. According to Ham, McLaughlin is expected to be back within the next few days and Huerter should be cleared for contact around the middle of the month, while Lyles will probably be sidelined until the end of the preseason schedule. Robinson and Carter will remain out for the start of the season.
  • As Anderson details in a separate story for The Sacramento Bee, Brown delivered a profanity-laced tirade near the end of a Saturday scrimmage. As the Kings’ head coach later explained, two-way player Mason Jones capped off a “really, really good day” by turning the ball over and giving up on the last couple plays of the day. Brown responded by calling out Jones and several of his vets. “I got on Foxy and Domas and DeMar a little bit because those three guys can’t let that slide,” he said. “I shouldn’t have to be the one saying that we all have to hold each other accountable. … We all have to hold each other accountable all the time, and if our vets see something like that from a young guy in Mason, then you’ve got to let him know, ‘Hey, Mace, you had a good day, but we can’t finish like that.'”
  • In another story for The Sacramento Bee, Anderson explores how Murray can continue to grow as a player as the former No. 4 overall pick enters his third NBA season.
  • A Los Angeles native, DeRozan hasn’t played for one of his hometown teams since entering the NBA in 2009, but he’s thrilled to be living in California again as a member of the Kings, so close to his family in L.A., he recently told Marc J. Spears of Andscape. “It means so much,” DeRozan said. “Even one of my daughters, she is asking every day when she can come up — even a day where she could just come up for a day, spend time with me and go back. Her knowing that gives her excitement. That makes me extremely happy.”
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Western Notes: Gordon, Rockets Roster, Divac, Doncic, Kennard

September 22nd, 2024 at 9:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Aaron Gordon becomes eligible for a four-year contract extension later this week and that will be one of the big storylines at the Nuggets’ training camp, Bennett Durando of the Denver Post writes. Gordon has a player option for the 2025/26 season but could replace that with the first year of a new deal as part of an extension agreement.

Jamal Murray‘s health and the way Russell Westbrook fits into the Nuggets’ rotation are among the other storylines to watch in Denver, according to Durando.

We have more from the Western Conference:

  • With the Rockets buying out and waiving forward AJ Griffin, they have an open spot on the official roster. How will it be filled? It could turn into a competition among players on two-ways and training camp deals, according to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Jeenathan Williams, Nate Hinton, N’Faly Dante, Jermaine Samuels and Jack McVeigh comprise that group. Houston could also opt to leave that spot open or sign a free agent.
  • Former Kings general manager Vlade Divac made one of the biggest draft blunders in recent years when he passed on Luka Doncic in favor of Marvin Bagley in 2018. Divac admits he made a mistake but explained that he already had a talented floor leader in De’Aaron Fox.  “I could’ve taken Luka, but then I would’ve had to trade Fox,” he said in an interview with Index, a Croatian outlet (hat tip to Grant Afseth of the Dallas Sports Journal).
  • Grizzlies players have been competing in 5-on-5 scrimmages for over a month and Luke Kennard is impressed by the team’s competitiveness and attention to detail. “Something I haven’t really seen before,” Kennard told Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “We’re really pushing each other and competing really hard. I think that’s going to go a long way. We start that right now. We’re getting a few steps ahead until the season starts.”
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Kings Notes: Monk, DeRozan, Triano, Markkanen

July 7th, 2024 at 5:40pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Malik Monk might have found a better offer on the open market but he was content to stay with the Kings on a four-year, $78MM contract. Monk choose comfort over a few more dollar signs.

“It just felt right. Everything felt right,” Monk told Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee and other media members. “I don’t go anywhere and feel uncomfortable. I go everywhere and feel comfortable, and that’s a home, I feel like, so I’m back.”

Monk might have received close to $25MM per year and a starting role with some teams. Instead, he’ll likely resume his role as sixth man on the Kings. Monk informed the team 10 days before free agency began that he was staying put.

“Being a team player,” Monk said. “I could have took my money somewhere, but it felt like home here. Letting the organization know early was the least I could do, for sure, because we need a few more pieces and they’re looking for a few more pieces, so I think they’re doing their job.”

We have more on the Kings:

  • The Athletic’s John Hollinger is conflicted over the Kings’ decision to pursue a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan. The addition of DeRozan probably doesn’t vault them into the top five in the Western Conference, even during the regular season, Hollinger opines. However, they’re too good to tank, so there’s nothing wrong with upgrading the team methodically for a future run at the title.
  • The team’s recruitment of DeRozan included having Jay Triano, the Kings’ lead assistant coach and DeRozan’s first NBA head coach, at the airport, according to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. De’Aaron Fox also played a key role in DeRozan’s recruitment. DeRozan agreed to a three-year, $74MM deal with the third season partially guaranteed.
  • In the same story, Slater notes that the Kings made a strong pitch early last week to acquire the Jazz’sLauri Markkanen in a trade. However, they were unwilling to give up Keegan Murray in a proposed deal. Instead, they made a substantial picks-based offer. They put a deadline on pursuing a trade with Utah and the Jazz didn’t meet it. There’s growing skepticism league-wide that Jazz executive Danny Ainge will actually move Markkanen, Slater adds.
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Kings Rumors: No. 13 Pick, Caruso, Fox, Siakam, Kuzma, LaVine

June 24th, 2024 at 4:31pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings‘ No. 13 overall pick is “very available” in trade talks, according to Anthony Slater and Sam Amick of The Athletic, who report that Sacramento included that lottery selection in an offer for Alex Caruso before the Bulls decided to send the veteran guard to Oklahoma City instead.

As Slater and Amick detail, the Kings have brought in several late-lottery prospects for pre-draft workouts, including Purdue center Zach Edey. Former Duke standout Jared McCain also recently visited Sacramento for a workout, reports Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. However, there’s “more of an appetite” within the organization to add a veteran who could help the team win right away instead of a rookie, according to The Athletic’s report.

The ideal outcome for Sacramento, Slater and Amick write, would be acquiring a “mid-prime” player who can grow with the core of De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray, and Malik Monk. The Kings believe they have a three-to-six year window to contend with those players and would be willing to attach extra draft assets to this year’s No. 13 pick for the right trade target.

Here’s more on the Kings from The Athletic:

  • Fox will be extension-eligible starting in July, but he has decided he won’t sign a new contract this offseason, sources tell Slater and Amick. The star guard has two guaranteed years left on his current deal, so there’s no urgency to get anything done yet. Fox wants to see how the roster takes shape and could also still qualify for a super-max extension if he makes an All-NBA team in 2024/25.
  • The Kings came close to acquiring Pascal Siakam from Toronto before he was sent to Indiana, having backed off in large part because they weren’t confident about their chances of re-signing him. League sources tell The Athletic that there’s some level of regret within the organization about not pulling the trigger and trying to convince the star forward to sign long-term.
  • Ever since nearly trading for Kyle Kuzma in 2021, Kings general manager Monte McNair has maintained some level of interest in the Wizards forward, who is expected to be on Sacramento’s radar again this summer. League sources also confirm to Slater and Amick that Bulls guard Zach LaVine is a possible target for the Kings, though they’d likely have to be incentivized to take on his maximum-salary contract, which still has three years remaining.
  • After coming off the bench for the past two seasons, Monk has expressed a desire to start, but he agreed to re-sign with the Kings without having received any assurances about his role going forward, per Slater and Amick.
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Edwards, Haliburton Earn Salary Increases With All-NBA Nods

May 22nd, 2024 at 7:20pm CST by Luke Adams

The maximum-salary rookie scale extensions that Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards and Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton signed last offseason will have starting salaries worth 30% of the 2024/25 salary cap instead of 25% after both players made All-NBA teams. Edwards earned a spot on the Second Team, while Haliburton made the Third Team.

As our maximum-salary projections for ’24/25 show, based on a $141MM cap, the five-year deals signed by Edwards and Haliburton will now be worth $245,340,000 instead of $204,450,000. Those numbers could change if the cap comes in above or below $141MM.

Edwards and Haliburton agreed to Rose Rule language in their respective extensions. The Rose Rule allow players coming off their rookie scale contracts to receive salaries worth more than 25% of the cap in year five if they make an All-NBA team during the season (or two of the three seasons) before their extension goes into effect. Players can also qualify by being named Most Valuable Player or Defensive Player of the Year.

Hornets guard LaMelo Ball had similar language in his maximum-salary extension, but injuries prevented him from having any shot at All-NBA team in 2023/24, so his contract will be worth $204.45MM over five years.

Here are more of the financial implications of today’s All-NBA selections:

  • Because Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey didn’t make an All-NBA team, his maximum salary as a restricted free agent this offseason will be worth 25% of the cap instead of 30%. He’ll be eligible for a five-year deal up to a projected $204.45MM.
  • Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander met the super-max performance criteria by earning All-NBA nods for a second straight year, but neither player has enough years of service yet to sign a designated veteran extension this summer. Both Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander will be eligible to sign super-max extensions, starting at 35% of the cap instead of 30%, during the 2025 offseason. As Bobby Marks of ESPN outlines (Twitter links), Doncic would be eligible for a five-year extension projected to be worth over $346MM that begins in 2026/27, while SGA could sign a four-year extension worth a projected $294MM+ that would begin in 2027/28.
  • Celtics forward Jayson Tatum is one year ahead of Doncic and Gilgeous-Alexander — he met the super-max performance criteria by making a second straight All-NBA team in 2023, but was still one year away from having the required years of service at that time. He’ll be eligible this July to sign a five-year super-max extension that will start at 35% of the ’25/26 cap and be worth a projected $314.85MM.
  • Players who would have been eligible for super-max extensions if they had made an All-NBA team include Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, Heat big man Bam Adebayo, Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram, and Nuggets guard Jamal Murray. All of those players could still qualify if they remain with their current teams and earn All-NBA honors next season, though it’s worth noting that Ingram is considered a trade candidate this summer and is highly unlikely to get a super-max offer even if he qualifies.
  • Kings center Domantas Sabonis earned a $1.3MM contract bonus as a result of being named to the All-NBA Third Team, tweets James Ham of The Kings Beat.
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2023/24 All-NBA Teams Announced

May 22nd, 2024 at 7:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The All-NBA teams have been announced for the 2023/24 season (Twitter link).

A total of 99 media members voted on the honors, with players receiving five points for a First Team vote, three points for a Second Team vote and one point for a Third Team vote. This year’s All-NBA teams are as follows:

First Team

Second Team

Third Team

Gilgeous-Alexander and Jokic were the only two unanimous First Team selections, receiving 99 of 99 possible votes. Doncic earned 98 First Team votes but was named to the Second Team on one ballot. Antetokounmpo (88), Tatum (65), Brunson (37), Edwards (3), and Durant (2) were the only other players to receive multiple First Team votes.

Others receiving votes and their point totals are the Celtics‘ Jaylen Brown (50), the Clippers‘ Paul George (16), the Sixers‘ Tyrese Maxey (16), the Timberwolves‘ Rudy Gobert (12), the Spurs‘ Victor Wembanyama (11), the Pelicans‘ Zion Williamson (11), the Magic’s Paolo Banchero (10), the Kings‘ De’Aaron Fox (9) the Heat’s Bam Adebayo (7) and the Bulls‘ DeMar DeRozan (1).

This is the first season that a minimum number of games was required to qualify for most postseason awards under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Among the stars who might have received All-NBA consideration if they had reached the 65-game threshold are Sixers center Joel Embiid, who was the 2023 MVP, along with Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, Grizzlies guard Ja Morant, Knicks forward Julius Randle and Celtics big man Kristaps Porzingis.

This was also the first season that voting for the All-NBA team was positionless, though that didn’t have a huge impact on the results, as the top two teams still feature two guards, a pair of forwards, and a center. The Third Team is made up a center, three guards, and just one forward.

Wembanyama, who received two votes for the Second Team and five for the Third Team, was the only rookie named on any of the ballots. Earlier this week, he became the first rookie to earn a spot on an All-Defensive First Team.

The Lakers with Davis and James and the Suns with Durant and Booker were the only teams to have multiple players honored. They were both eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Several players became eligible for salary increases or earned a bonus by achieving All-NBA honors. Read more here.

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Pacific Notes: Clippers, Powell, Fox, Ellis, Huerter, Allen

April 23rd, 2024 at 9:13pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Clippers found a way to hold the Mavericks to 30 points in the first half of Game 1. Coach Tyronn Lue knows that keeping Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving under control for Game 2 tonight will be even tougher, Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times writes.

“It’s very challenging,” he said. “You got two of the best scorers in the league on the same team. So, when they’re both on the court at the same time, it’s kind of hard to double-team one guy and leave the other guy. So, you got to pick your poison. I thought for the most part our guys did a good job with executing the defensive plan.”

We have more from the Pacific Division:

  • Clippers forward Norman Powell is upset he wasn’t one of the finalists for the Sixth Man of the Year award, Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN tweets. “I mean, I think it’s BS, to be honest, two years in a row,” he said. “I don’t know what else you’ve got to do to be a sixth man. Last year, you’re leading the league in bench points. Don’t get nominated. This year, the most efficient off the bench, given the fact I’m playing with four Hall of Famers, limited touches. … it’s just tough.” Powell averaged 13.9 points during the regular season on .486/.435/.831 shooting.
  • De’Aaron Fox said on Monday that it’s impossible to think of this Kings season as anything but a major disappointment, per Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Sacramento was bounced in the play-in tournament. “You want to continue to play for more,” Fox said. “I don’t think we were bad this year, but obviously the West got tougher and I don’t think we stepped up to that plate. … We took a step backward a little bit as a team. We still have things we can continue to get better at as a group.”
  • In the same story, Patterson notes that Keon Ellis and Kevin Huerter could have a spirited battle for the Kings’ starting shooting guard spot next season. Ellis impressed with his defense, while Huerter is a career 38.2% 3-point shooter. “It’s definitely the season where I’ve kind of made a name for myself a little bit,” Ellis said. “We didn’t finish the way we wanted to with the injuries and all of the things that go into that, but definitely for me it’s a season I’m going to look back at and be like, ‘This is where it started for me.’”
  • Suns wing Grayson Allen suffered a right ankle injury in Tuesday’s game against Minnesota and did not return. Allen came into the game with a sore ankle, per The Arizona Republic’s Duane Rankin (Twitter link), but was deemed healthy enough to play.
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Kings Notes: Offseason, Monk, Year In Review

April 20th, 2024 at 11:15am CST by Tristan Tucker

After they fell to the Pelicans in the play-in and missed the playoffs, there will be questions regarding whether or not the current build of the Kings has plateaued, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks. On one hand, a team that brought back the same starting five from last season went from the No. 3 seed to out of the playoffs. On the other, the Kings finished just two wins shy of their total from last year despite late-season injuries to Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk.

An already strong Western Conference is projected to get even stronger next year with almost every team in the conference set up to compete. Monk is the team’s most crucial free agent, but the Kings can’t offer the Sixth Man of the Year candidate more than four years and $78MM. Teams with cap space could outbid the Kings, and even if they are able to re-sign him, his $17.4MM projected first-year salary would send Sacramento into the luxury tax.

Outside of Monk, Sacramento’s potential to improve comes from the No. 13/14 pick (pending tiebreaker), Keegan Murray‘s growth, trades, and various cap exceptions. The Kings have four first-round picks and nine players earning between $2.1MM and $18MM to use in potential trades, but Marks notes that outside of the Domantas Sabonis deal, general manager Monte McNair has been relatively conservative on the trade market.

De’Aaron Fox, who has two years left on his contract, is an extension candidate this offseason, Marks notes. The Kings can currently add three more seasons at up to $165MM to his contract. If he’s named All-NBA this year, Fox would be eligible for a four-year, $267.5MM extension. If he doesn’t sign an extension by Oct. 21, he can become eligible for a four-year, $229MM deal next offseason — if he’s named All-NBA next year, he’d be eligible for a five-year, $346MM super-max deal.

We have more on the Kings:

  • Monk averaged a career-best 15.4 points and 5.1 assists per game this year for the Kings, but they’re limited by the money they can offer him, The Sacramento Bee’s Chris Biderman writes. “Obviously, I think he was extremely big for us,” Fox said. “People that watched us play know that he should be Sixth Man of the Year. But at the end of the day, this is a business, and I feel like what he gave to us in his two years that he has been here, I feel like he showed his value, what he can do for a team.“
  • While Fox didn’t sound overly confident that Monk would re-sign with the Kings, he said he would try to convince his former Kentucky backcourt partner to return, per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “For sure,” Fox said. “But money talks. You can’t play this game forever. We have such a short window to play basketball. Not everyone is going to be Bron or CP, play 19, 20 years. You have to be able to get paid whenever you can. That’s what Vince Carter told me. He played 21, 22 years. I’d love to have him back, but I don’t know what the future holds.“
  • The play-in loss to the Pelicans was emblematic of Sacramento’s season as a whole, Biderman writes in a separate story. Three nights after scoring 32 against the Warriors, Murray had just 11 against New Orleans. Keon Ellis, who did a great job defending Stephen Curry, went scoreless against the Pels and was a minus-20. All season, the Kings showed they could hang with the best of the West with a 17-11 record against the top seven teams in the conference (including a 3-1 record against Denver). However, they went 0-6 against New Orleans this season and lost games to the likes of Washington, Portland and Detroit throughout the regular season. “I feel like we had really good wins and we had really bad losses,” Murray said. “So it was really a mountain-and-valley season for us. That’s something that the top teams in the West, they’re just consistent throughout the whole season.“
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Pacific Notes: Monk, Murray, Warriors, Suns, O’Neale

April 18th, 2024 at 8:00am CST by Luke Adams

Asked earlier this week about Malik Monk‘s recovery from an MCL sprain, Shams Charania of The Athletic said during an appearance on FanDuel’s Run it Back show (Twitter video link) that the Kings guard still isn’t anywhere close to returning to action.

“Malik Monk is going to be out well into April and May. He’s not going to return anywhere in this play-in tournament (or) the first round,” Charania said. “The Kings are preparing to move forward here – if they do they make it into the playoffs – for at least the first round without Malik Monk.”

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Monk didn’t rule out the possibility of making it back during the first round if the Kings advance, but admitted that he doesn’t yet have a clear idea of what his timeline will look like, since he hasn’t gotten back on the court or done any running yet (Twitter video link). Sacramento is expected to reevaluate him around April 27.

Following a win over Golden State on Tuesday, the Kings will be in New Orleans on Friday facing a banged-up Pelicans team that will be missing star forward Zion Williamson, so there’s a path to the No. 8 seed for Sacramento. Still, it sounds as if the Kings would probably need to knock off the No. 1 Thunder in the first round to have a chance to see Monk back in action this spring.

Monk will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, with the Kings holding his Early Bird rights.

Here’s more from around the Pacific:

  • Kings star De’Aaron Fox put in significant time last offseason training with second-year forward Keegan Murray, so Fox was thrilled to see the former No. 4 overall pick have a huge game on Tuesday, writes Hunter Patterson of The Athletic. Murray scored a game-high 32 points in Sacramento’s play-in victory over Golden State. “Just seeing his development, and how different he’s been,” Fox said. “… Obviously we want to see it on a consistent basis. But just seeing that come to fruition and seeing the work he put in all summer, especially on a big stage like this, it’s definitely great to see.”
  • Within a look at what’s next for the Warriors, Logan Murdock of The Ringer says league sources believe Andrew Wiggins will be included in trade discussions this offseason. Stephen Curry told Murdock that continuing to push toward contention is his top priority. “I want to win,” Curry said. “Plain and simple. It’s not my job to make all of those decisions, but it’s my job to hold people accountable and say I want to win, and I’ll give my input, but I just want to win.”
  • An unrestricted free agent this offseason, veteran forward Royce O’Neale suggested that he has enjoyed his time in Phoenix and would be open to re-signing with the Suns. “Yeah, for sure. It’s a great place, team, organization,” O’Neale said (Twitter video link via Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports). “It’s been great since I’ve been here, since day one.”
  • Already projected to be over the second tax apron next season, the Suns may be motivated to re-sign O’Neale since they’ll have limited resources to add outside talent. But a new deal for the forward would exponentially increase the projected luxury tax bill for team owner Mat Ishbia. “(Ishbia)’s gonna cost himself a s—ton of money under the new collective bargaining agreement,” one opposing executive told Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com. “He just is. If he wants to pay it, that’s fine. The point is that he’s mortgaged everything on this current group here, and once this runs its course … that is, when (Kevin Durant) starts to slow down — and he hasn’t yet; he’s still very good — they’re going to be in a tough situation.”
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Pacific Notes: Wiggins, Suns, S. Lee, Fox, Huerter, Reddish

February 29th, 2024 at 2:27pm CST by Rory Maher

Warriors forward Andrew Wiggins will miss his second straight game on Thursday vs. New York due to personal reasons, with Anthony Slater of The Athletic describing the absence as a “family matter.” It’s unclear when Wiggins will return to the lineup, though head coach Steve Kerr said the team expects him back at some point.

“Don’t know,” Kerr said of a return timeline. “We’ll obviously respect Andrew’s wishes for this to remain private. Personal reasons.”

As Slater notes, Wiggins missed the final 25 games of the 2022/23 season due to personal reasons, returning just before the postseason began.

Here are a few more notes from the Pacific Division:

  • The Suns have an open roster spot. Veterans Mike Muscala (Pistons) and Patty Mills (Hawks) were recently waived by their former clubs, with Muscala reaching a buyout agreement. Would Phoenix be interested in either of those players? John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 says the answer is no (Twitter links). The Suns are much more likely to convert Saben Lee‘s two-way contract to a standard deal, according to Gambadoro, who says (via Twitter) the odds of that happening are “very high.” It’s worth noting that Lee, who was the 38th pick of the 2020 draft, is in his fourth NBA season — he will not be eligible for two-way contracts in 2024/25 and beyond.
  • After building an early lead on Wednesday against the Nuggets, the Kings wound up being blown out in Denver without star point guard De’Aaron Fox, writes Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. Fox, who sustained a left knee contusion in Monday’s loss to Miami, went through the team’s shootaround yesterday morning and his pregame shooting routine prior to being ruled out, which seemingly indicates the injury is relatively minor.
  • According to Biderman, guard Kevin Huerter was frustrated with his lack of playing time following Wednesday’s game, in which he played just 18 minutes. “I don’t know if I could put my finger on one (thing),” Huerter said of the Kings being outscored by 35 points over the second and third quarters. “I wish I was out there to help us more though.” Huerter declined to expand on those comments, but Biderman points out that the 25-year-old is playing a career-low 25.2 minutes per game and briefly lost his starting job in December before reclaiming it.
  • After missing the previous 14 games with a right ankle sprain, Lakers wing Cam Reddish returned to action in Wednesday’s win over the Clippers, per Khobi Price of The Southern Califnornia News Group. The former lottery pick played 20 minutes and supplanted second-year guard/forward Max Christie in the rotation, Price adds.
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