Sacramento Kings Rumors | Hoops Rumors

De’Aaron Fox Placed Under Protocols, Out At Least 10 Days

April 23rd, 2021 at 8:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kings star guard De’Aaron Fox is expected to miss 10-to-14 days after being placed under the league’s health and safety protocols, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets in conjunction with colleague Sam Amick.

Fox, who tweaked an ankle earlier this week, has been extremely durable this season. He’s appeared in 58 of 59 games, averaging 25.2 PPG and 7.2 APG. He’s been on a scoring tear lately with 30 or more points in six of the last nine games.

The loss of its top player could extinguish any hope of Sacramento making the play-in round. Even if Fox is only out 10 days, he’d miss five games. The Kings trail the 10th-place Warriors by five games in the standings.

Health Updates On Bagley, Holmes

April 22nd, 2021 at 9:09pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Kings center Richaun Holmes has returned to basketball activities as he continues to recover from a strained right hamstring, per Sean Cunningham of ABC10 (KXTV) Sacramento (via Twitter).
The fractured fourth metacarpal left hand injury that has kept Kings big man Marvin Bagley III out for a month has healed, according to a team press release. Bagley is hoping to return to the court for Sacramento next week as the team continues to make a play-in push, tweets Sam Amick of The Athletic.

Checking In On Open NBA Roster Spots

April 22nd, 2021 at 4:30pm CST by Luke Adams

It has been nearly a month since the NBA’s trade deadline passed, but we’ve still seen a flurry of transactional activity during the last four weeks, as teams have signed and waived players ahead of the postseason.

While some clubs have full rosters and seem unlikely to make any changes between now and the end of the regular season, that’s certainly not the case across the board.

With the help of our roster counts tracker, here’s our latest look at open roster spots around the league, as of April 22:

Teams with one or more open 15-man roster spots:

Golden State Warriors
Miami Heat
Minnesota Timberwolves
New Orleans Pelicans (2)
New York Knicks
Portland Trail Blazers
San Antonio Spurs

The Heat, Timberwolves, Knicks, and Spurs each have 14 players on standard contracts and one opening on their 15-man rosters. They’re all good bets to sign a 15th man before the season ends, either for developmental purposes or for added postseason depth.

The Warriors and Trail Blazers have 13 players apiece on standard deals, one on a 10-day contract – Gary Payton II for Golden State and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for Portland – and one open spot. Hollis-Jefferson’s 10-day pact runs through next Tuesday, while Payton’s goes through Wednesday. Once those deals expire, the Warriors and Blazers will each have up to two weeks to get back to 14 players.

Since the NBA only allows teams to dip to 13 or fewer players for up to two weeks at a time, the Pelicans are very much on the clock. They’ve been at 13 players for the last nine days, since Isaiah Thomas‘ 10-day contract expired. The expectation is that New Orleans will sign draft-and-stash prospect Didi Louzada as a 14th man by early next week.

Teams whose 15-man rosters are full due to one or more 10-day contracts:

Cleveland Cavaliers (Mfiondu Kabengele)
Denver Nuggets (Austin Rivers)
Los Angeles Clippers (DeMarcus Cousins; Yogi Ferrell)
Memphis Grizzlies (Tim Frazier)
Oklahoma City Thunder (Justin Robinson)
Orlando Magic (Donta Hall; Robert Franks)
Philadelphia 76ers (Anthony Tolliver)
Sacramento Kings (Damian Jones)
Toronto Raptors (Freddie Gillespie)
Washington Wizards (Jordan Bell)

These 10 teams have full 15-man rosters as of today, but that might not last long. The dozen 10-day contracts listed here will begin expiring as soon as tonight (Hall), so if those players aren’t re-signed, the clubs will have roster openings.

The Nets will also fall into this group once they officially waive LaMarcus Aldridge and sign Mike James to a 10-day deal.

Teams with an open two-way contract slot:

Cleveland Cavaliers
Minnesota Timberwolves
Phoenix Suns
Toronto Raptors

The Suns have only carried a single two-way player all season long, so there’s no guarantee they’ll fill their second slot before the end of the regular season.

The other teams listed here are all better candidates to do so — Cleveland (Lamar Stevens) and Toronto (Yuta Watanabe) just recently promoted two-way players to their respective 15-man rosters, while Minnesota was carrying a pair of two-way players until waiving Ashton Hagans in February.

The Cavs reportedly intend to sign Jeremiah Martin to fill their two-way opening.

Fox Tweaked Ankle, But May Not Miss Any Games

April 21st, 2021 at 9:35am CST by Luke Adams

Kings head coach Luke Walton said after Tuesday’s game that point guard De’Aaron Fox tweaked his ankle on Sunday, per Sean Cunningham of ABC10 Sacramento (Twitter link). It doesn’t appear the injury will sideline Fox for now, but it explains why he was limited to 28 minutes in the club’s loss last night — those 28 minutes were the fewest he has played in a game since January 15.

Kings' Deadline Acquisitions Impress; Metu Discusses Injury

April 20th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

The Kings have been in a brutal slump this month, but their deadline additions continue to look good, as Delon Wright and Terence Davis played key role in a Sunday win that snapped a nine-game losing streak, writes Jason Jones of The Athletic.
Kings big man Chimezie Metu, who missed nearly a month-and-a-half earlier this season due to broken wrist he suffered when he was thrown to the court by Jonas Valanciunas, said he’s not holding a grudge toward the Grizzlies center, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee relays. “It is frustrating looking back on it at times because who knows what could have happened in those six weeks for myself and what that could have meant for my career or for the team, for the team’s success,” Metu said. “… It’s tough looking back at it. It was tough in the moment, but I hold no hate in my heart for Valanciunas.”

Kings Notes: Bagley, Fox, Harding, D. Jones

April 17th, 2021 at 7:46pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Kings‘ decision to let Marvin Bagley III stay away from the team while he recovered from a broken bone in his left hand raises questions about his future with the organization, writes Jason Jones of The Athletic. Bagley, who hasn’t played since March 15 when he suffered a fracture of his fourth metacarpal, rejoined his teammates Thursday on their road trip.

Jones states that letting Bagley be on his own for so long with an injury that wasn’t season ending appears to be “more of the coddling and enabling of players” that the Kings have gotten a reputation for. Team officials stayed in touch with Bagley during his absence, but Jones suggests he could have benefited from taking part in game preparation and other day-to-day activities.

Bagley still has a splint on his hand and is not close to returning to action, according to coach Luke Walton (Twitter link). When he does return, his performance over the remainder of the season may help the Kings determine his future. Bagley will be eligible for a rookie scale extension this summer, but he has only played 50 combined games over the past two seasons. League sources tell Jones that Sacramento made Bagley available before this year’s trade deadline, but the front office didn’t receive any offers it liked.

There’s more on the Kings:

De’Aaron Fox has been the one constant on a Sacramento team that has posted a five-game winning streak and a pair of nine-game losing streaks this season, notes Spencer Davies of Basketball News. Fox is carrying the Kings’ offense every night and averaging a career best 25.2 PPG. “Just from the hours that he puts in and watching him this summer, (we knew) that something different was about to happen — we saw how locked in he was,” teammate Richaun Holmes said. “It’s honestly been amazing to watch. … He’s so vocal on and off the floor, and just his mindset is to attack.”
Lindsey Harding, who is in her second season as an assistant with the Kings, has been named head coach of the South Sudan Federation women’s team, Jones tweets.
In case you missed it, the Kings have signed Damian Jones to a second 10-day contract. His first one expired Friday night. With Holmes injured, Jones has been the team’s starting center in the past two games.

Kings Sign Damian Jones To Second 10-Day Deal

April 17th, 2021 at 1:50pm CST by Dana Gauruder

APRIL 17: The Kings have made it official, announcing Jones’ second 10-day deal in a press release.

APRIL 16: The Kings are signing center Damian Jones to a second 10-day contract, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets.

Jones’ first 10-day contract with Sacramento is set to expire on Friday night.

Jones began the season with the Suns before being waived in February, then signed a pair of 10-day deals with the Lakers. He played 14 games with Phoenix and eight with L.A., averaging a combined 3.0 PPG and 2.0 RPG. Since his arrival in Sacramento, Jones has started three games and averaged 2.3 PPG and 2.3 RPG in 13.3 MPG.

Sacramento will have another decision to make on Jones later this month, since teams can only sign players to two 10 days in a season.

The Kings’ usual starting center, Richaun Holmes, is currently sidelined with a hamstring injury.

Injury Notes: Holmes, Bagley, Butler, Augustin, Hayward, SGA

April 14th, 2021 at 8:48pm CST by Arthur Hill

Kings center Richaun Holmes will miss at least three games with a strained right hamstring, writes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. After suffering the injury in Monday’s game, Holmes underwent an MRI that revealed the extent of the damage.

He will be held out of tonight’s game against the Wizards and won’t accompany the team on a two-game road trip to face the Suns and Mavericks. Holmes is averaging 14.1 points, 8.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game this season.

“We’ll see how he’s doing as we get back into town,” coach Luke Walton said. “Clearly, we’ll miss him. He’s had an incredible year for us so far and he’s a big part of what we’re trying to do.”

There are more injury updates from around the league:

The Kings got good news about Marvin Bagley III, who will rejoin the team Thursday in Phoenix, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic (Twitter link). Bagley has been away from his teammates while rehabbing a fracture in his left hand, and there were plans for him to return to the club when he was close to being able to play again.
Heat forward Jimmy Butler had an injury scare involving his ankle in Tuesday’s game, but he will be in the starting lineup tonight in Denver, tweets Ira Winderman of The Sun-Sentinel. “There’s no doubt about it, that Jimmy will always want to go,” coach Erik Spoelstra said. “But we evaluated him today and he passed all the tests with the trainers and that allowed him to where we all feel comfortable, him going tonight.”
Rockets guard D.J. Augustin had an MRI today on his sprained left ankle, tweets Mark Berman of Fox 26 Houston. Coach Stephen Silas said Augustin is using crutches and a walking boot and has been ruled out at least through Monday. Danuel House, who hasn’t played since April 4 due to a sprained ankle, and Eric Gordon, who has been sidelined since March 11 with a groin strain, are also both expected to miss another week or so.
Hornets forward Gordon Hayward still has a protective boot on his strained right foot, according to Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link). He is expected to be re-evaluated early next month.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was projected to be out through at least mid-April with plantar fasciitis, but his condition hasn’t been re-evaluated yet, coach Mark Daigneault told Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman (Twitter link).

Haliburton Irked By Losing Streak

April 13th, 2021 at 9:55pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Kings rookie shooting guard Tyrese Haliburton acknowledged his frustration over his team’s current seven-game losing streak, according to James Ham of NBC Sports California. “We know we’re better than this, we’ve proven we’re better than this throughout the year,” Haliburton said. “But obviously, consistency has plagued us our whole season.” With a 22-32 record, the Kings are currently four games behind the tenth-seeded Warriors for a chance at a play-in tournament berth.

Kings Notes: Haliburton, Fox, Golden 1 Center

April 12th, 2021 at 2:17pm CST by Luke Adams

After coming off the bench in 31 of his first 33 games this season, rookie guard Tyrese Haliburton was moved into the Kings‘ starting lineup on March 17 and remained there for the team’s next 12 games. However, he has once again been a reserve for the last two, with head coach Luke Walton explaining that he likes having Haliburton lead the second unit. The 21-year-old is taking that decision in stride, as he tells Sam Amick of The Athletic.

“I’m not tripping off that,” Haliburton said. “At the end of the day, I’m a basketball player. I’m not just saying this because it’s a media answer. Like, Buddy (Hield) yelled at me yesterday because I told him this and he was like, ‘Oh, don’t give me the media answer.’ But it’s the truth. I’m a basketball player at the end of the day, so I’m coming out here to compete every night. If you put me off the bench or start me or however many minutes, I’m going to value those minutes and compete.”

Haliburton spoke to Amick about a handful of other topics, including how he ended up falling to No. 12 in last November’s draft. The rookie guard said he thought briefly that he’d be picked by the Wizards at No. 9, but they opted for Deni Avdija instead.

Addressing a rumor that he had a hand in orchestrating his draft-day slide because he was focused on playing for the Kings, Haliburton acknowledged that he liked the idea of playing in Sacramento and that he didn’t see a fit with the Hawks, who had the sixth pick. However, he dismissed the idea that he discouraged the top 11 teams from selecting him.

“There’s all these stupid rumors going around that I told everybody not to pick me because I wanted to go to Sac at 12. Like, come on now, are you crazy? I would never,” Haliburton said. “These teams just didn’t pick me, you know? It is what it is.”

Here’s more on the Kings:

De’Aaron Fox has been hit by the NBA with a $20K fine for his public criticism of the officiating, the league announced in a press release. Fox’s comments came after Sacramento’s 128-112 loss to Utah on Saturday, as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee details.
The Kings will welcome fans back to the Golden 1 Center for the first time this season beginning on April 20, per a team release. Approximately 1,600 frontline workers will attend that first game — subsequent games will be open to more fans, with the capacity gradually increasing.
Sacramento is one of many teams around the NBA with a player currently on a 10-day contract. Damian Jones will be eligible to sign a second 10-day deal with the Kings when his current contract expires on Friday night. If one side or the other wants to end the relationship, Sacramento will open up a spot on its 15-man roster.