With rookie Tyrese Haliburton out due to a wrist injury, the Kings are using Glenn Robinson III and Kyle Guy to fill in those minutes, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets. Robinson played 21 minutes and Guy saw the court for six minutes during the Kings’ game against Houston on Saturday. Robinson is playing on a contract that doesn’t fully guarantee until late February, while Guy is on a two-way deal.
Speaking to the media on Sunday for the first time since his father published a tweet asking the Kings to trade him, Marvin Bagley III made it clear he didn’t want to discuss that tweet, which apparently stemmed from Bagley’s lack of recent fourth-quarter playing time and has since been deleted.
“Before we start, I just want to say that if there are no questions about the game tomorrow or what we’re going to do tomorrow, please don’t ask, I don’t want to give any extra information on nothing,” Bagley said on Sunday, per James Ham of NBC Sports California. “If you don’t have any questions about the team and tomorrow’s game, then hold off.”
As Jason Jones of The Athletic writes, Bagley’s statement to open his media session didn’t stop one reporter from asking whether his father’s comments were a distraction or whether the third-year big man wanted to directly dispel the notion that he may want a trade. However, Bagley ignored the question and continued to discuss Sacramento’s next game.
The NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement calls a fine for any player who publicly requests a trade, so it comes as no surprise that Bagley didn’t sign off on his father’s message. Still, his non-answer figures to fuel further speculation. If he’s happy in Sacramento, it would have been easy enough for Bagley to tell reporters that his father doesn’t speak for him and that he wants to stay, notes James Patrick of The Sacramento Bee.
Another Kings dad entered the social media fray on Sunday night, with De’Aaron Fox‘s father writing “Trade him” in reply to a tweet about Bagley, as Sean Cunningham of ABC10 Sacramento relays (via Twitter).
While the developments over the last 48 hours appear somewhat ominous for the Kings, Bagley continues to maintain an open line of communication with head coach Luke Walton, which is an improvement on his relationship with former Kings coach Dave Joerger, according to Jones. Bagley never connected with Joerger, but appears to be on good terms with Walton and spoke on Sunday about wanting to be a good teammate.
“We’ve had very honest talks,” Walton said. “Things we talk about I’m going to keep between us but throughout my time here we’ve had a lot of good talks about honest things which I believe a coach and a player should have. Nothing different, nothing new. But with him and all the guys I coach, I try to make that a high priority. Understanding that not everyone is always going to be happy, but the communication will always be there and always available.”
Bagley, 21, has posted 11.8 PPG and 8.0 RPG in six games this season, but is shooting just 37.5% from the floor and has played a total of two fourth-quarter minutes in Sacramento’s last three games.
As the Rockets pulled away from the Kings in the fourth quarter Saturday with Marvin Bagley III on the bench, his father posted a trade request on Twitter, writes Jason Jones of The Athletic. The elder Bagley deleted the tweet, but the message that his son is unhappy with his current situation in Sacramento had already been sent.
It’s the second incident this week involving the Team Bagley account, Jones notes. On Tuesday, Bagley didn’t play at all in the fourth quarter of a game against Denver and the account retweeted an old post of Lakers fans expressing their anger at current Kings coach Luke Walton.
Asked about the situation after Saturday’s game, Walton explained that he had planned to put Bagley back on the floor, but decided to stick with Richaun Holmes because he was playing well. He suggested Holmes would have understood if the roles were reversed, adding that his decisions aren’t affected by anything that happens on social media.
“My message is always the same: We don’t listen to any of that,” Walton said. “It’s us within these walls, us within this locker room. We’re in this together. Good or bad, whatever people are saying, we’ve got to do everything we can to not let that affect what we’re trying to get done here.”
Bagley didn’t talk to the media after the game, but sources tell Jones he’s had a simmering feud with the organization since his rookie season. It began with a clash with former coach Dave Joerger, who was fired after Bagley’s first year, in part for not communicating better with his players.
The Kings took Bagley with the second pick in the 2018 draft, passing on Luka Doncic and Trae Young, two game-changing guards who have already become All-Stars. Bagley’s progress has been slowed by injuries that limited him to a combined 75 games in his first two seasons. He played just 13 games last year, breaking his right thumb in the season opener and spraining both feet along the way.
Bagley is off to a decent start this year, averaging 11.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per night. The Kings have already picked up his $11.3MM option for next season.
“He’s been great as far as actively learning, actively searching out to become better and get a better understanding of some of these types of things,” Walton said. “There’s mistakes happening, for sure, but as long as the player is trying and willing to do the things we’re asking, you live with those mistakes from young players. It’s the way our league is and the best teacher is always going to be experience, so the more he goes through things, the more he’ll pick them up. Like I said, he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”
- Until rookie Tyrese Haliburton suffered a wrist injury, the Kings had seemingly settled on a closing group of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield, Haliburton, Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes, according to Jason Jones of The Athletic. “With that group, you know the shot can come from anywhere,” Fox said. “You have multiple guys on the court who can make shots, get in the paint, get to the free throw line and things like that.”
Tyrese Haliburton has been one of the league’s top rookies during the first two weeks of play but he’ll be out for at least a week, according to a team press release.
The Kings guard underwent an MRI in Houston on Friday which confirmed a left wrist bone bruise. He suffered the injury during Thursday’s game against the Rockets.
His condition will be updated when the team returns to Sacramento next week. The Kings play at Houston on Saturday and Golden State on Monday before returning home.
The 12th overall pick in the draft out of Iowa State, Haliburton has scored 10.6 PPG while shooting 50% from the field. He’s also averaging 4.4 APG while playing 26.8 MPG off the bench.
“He plays beyond his years and we all have the utmost confidence in him with the ball,” starting point guard De’Aaron Fox told Shaun Powell of NBA.com. “He steps up to the occasion. He understands the game so well … you would have thought he’s played a few years already.”
6:15pm: Today’s MRI confirmed that the injury is a Grade 3 sprain and Jeffries’ status will be updated in six weeks, the Kings announced in a press release.
3:40pm: Kings wing DaQuan Jeffries suffered a setback during the process of rehabbing a back injury, and has sustained a Grade 3 left ankle sprain, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who tweets that Jeffries will miss an “extended period” of time.
Jeffries, who has been sidelined since the preseason due to back soreness, suffered the injury during a scrimmage when he came down on someone’s foot, per James Ham of NBC Sports California (Twitter links). He underwent an MRI today, and while the Kings have yet to issue a formal update, Charania’s report suggests that MRI showed the Grade 3 sprain.
Jeffries, 23, spent his rookie season in 2019/20 on a two-way contract with the Kings. He saw limited action, averaging 3.8 PPG and 1.4 RPG in 13 games (10.8 MPG), but impressed the team enough to earn a promotion to the 15-man roster and a fully guaranteed salary for 2020/21. He had been slated to have a “key rotation role” this season, says Charania.
No timeline has been set for Jeffries’ return so far, but as Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee writes, a Grade 3 ankle sprain typically requires about four to six weeks to heal. Kings guard De’Aaron Fox suffered the injury last season and missed 17 games. If Jeffries faces a similar recovery timeline, he likely won’t make his season debut until February.
- New Suns center Frank Kaminsky was excited to play well against the Kings, the team that had just cut him, Suns writer Gina Mizell tweets. “I gotta be honest, that felt good,” Kaminsky said. He scored 11 points in 19 minutes off the bench for Phoenix on Sunday.
- The Kings have recorded two straight wins, the franchise’s best start to a season in 17 years, Jason Jones of The Athletic writes. As Jones notes, players on Sacramento fully expected this to happen, taking a 124-122 win over Denver on Wednesday and 106-103 win over Phoenix on Saturday. “Why not?” Marvin Bagley III asked. “They tie their shoes the same way we tie ours. They practice the same way we practice. Why not? We have a good team, a great team. I know for myself, I’m not satisfied. I want to keep continuing to push, keep continuing to get better, continue to keep winning. Nobody’s surprised over here.”
Ahead of the 2020/21 season, John Hollinger of the Athletic wondered if the Kings will be able to move the contracts of shooting guard Buddy Hield and forward Harrison Barnes, and whether or not Sacramento would be able to surround newly-extended point guard De’Aaron Fox with enough help to reach the playoffs.
New Kings GM Monte McNair has expressed a desire to give Fox similarly-aged teammates. Hield is currently in the first season of his four-year, $94MM extension, which declines over each year, while Barnes has three years and $61MM left on his deal. Moving at least one of those players for assets could help in McNair’s quest to find players who align with Fox’s timeline.
DECEMBER 24: Metu’s two-way contract is now official, according to a press release issued by the Kings.
DECEMBER 23: The Kings are filling their open two-way slot by re-signing forward/center Chimezie Metu, reports Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). Metu cleared waivers today after being cut from Sacramento’s standard roster on Monday.
Selected 49th overall in the 2018 draft by the Spurs, Metu was never able to establish consistent playing time in San Antonio during his two years with the team. He appeared in 47 games over the last two seasons, averaging 2.3 PPG and 1.5 RPG in 5.3 minutes per contest before being waived by the Spurs last month.
Metu subsequently caught on with the Kings on a three-year contract with a $50K partial guarantee in year one and played well in the preseason, with 24 points, nine rebounds, and three blocks in 29 total minutes. However, since Sacramento was carrying 14 players on guaranteed contracts and Glenn Robinson III earned the 15th spot, there was no room for Metu.
Because he has just two years of NBA service under his belt and his guarantee didn’t exceed $50K, Metu remained eligible to sign a two-way contract with Sacramento after clearing waivers. He’ll occupy one of the Kings’ two-way slots while Kyle Guy has the other.
As our two-way tracker shows, only the Pistons, Suns, and Trail Blazers will still have open two-way spots once Metu’s deal with Sacramento is official.