- Jack Winter of Basketball Insiders ponders whether the Kings are finally bound to make the playoffs after 14 years of missing the tournament. Sacramento sports a young nucleus of De’Aaron Fox, Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III, combined with the veteran help of Harrison Barnes, Trevor Ariza, Dewayne Dedmon and others. The team finished with a 39-43 record last season, nine games behind the eighth seed Clippers.
The NBA has announced that Kings coach Luke Walton has been cleared in the league’s investigation of a sexual assault lawsuit filed by a former television reporter, tweets Sean Cunningham of KXTV in Sacramento. Investigators hired by the league determined there isn’t enough evidence to support the allegations.
Kelli Tennant, who brought the lawsuit, was not part of the investigation, Cunningham adds (Twitter link). The investigators tried several times to interview Tennant, but she repeatedly declined through her attorney.
“I am 100% focused on coaching the Sacramento Kings, and energized to work with this incredible group of players and coaches as we start the preseason,” Walton said in a statement tweeted by James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area. “I will have no further comment.”
The team also issued a brief statement that read, “Luke Walton is our head coach and we support him and his team as they continue to prepare for the upcoming season” (Twitter link from Jason Jones of The Athletic).
The Kings, who worked alongside the NBA in the investigation, had promised to take an “innocent until proven guilty” stance with their new coach. Walton was given a four-year contract in April, shortly after being fired by the Lakers.
Tenant filed the suit four months ago, claiming the incident happened in May of 2017 while she was interviewing Walton in a hotel room for a book she was putting together. She said he forcibly kissed her and rubbed his body against her even as she asked him to stop. Walton has denied the accusation, with his attorney calling her “an opportunist.”
Migrating to bigger markets is nothing new for NBA players. This offseason, we saw Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Anthony Davis among the players to make their way to a bigger city. De’Aaron Fox notices the trend but doesn’t plan to participate.
“I don’t crave to be in a big market,” Fox said (via Corban Goble of ONE37pm). “After last season, there was a buzz in Sacramento. Everyone in Sacramento is a Kings fan. If we start making the playoffs, or if we become a championship contender, the entire city is going to go nuts. That’s the difference between a big market and a small one.”
Fox has two more seasons on his rookie deal and will be eligible for an extension next summer. Here’s more from Sacramento:
- Fox enjoys the process of becoming a better player, Jason Jones of The Athletic writes. This offseason, he has focused on adding muscle and reshaping his body among other objectives. The point guard believes that the work in the weight room will help him absorb contact better.
- In the same piece, Fox added that he believes he can improve his consistency next season in an effort to get the Kings to the playoffs. “Some of the down games that I had, you can’t really have if you’re trying to make it to the playoffs, trying to have a deep run. Just trying to remain consistent throughout the entire season,” Fox said.
- Bobby Marks of ESPN.com believes the Kings are the most underrated team heading into the 2019/20 season. Marks can envision the team winning 45-46 games if Fox emerges into an All-Star candidate, Buddy Hield remains as consistent as he was last season, and Marvin Bagley continues to develop.
The Kings have signed center Eric Mika, according to a team press release. It’s an Exhibit 10 deal, James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area tweets.
Sacramento had two openings available on its training camp roster. Mika faces long odds in terms of making the opening-night roster. The Kings already have three centers — Dewayne Dedmon, Richaun Holmes and Harry Giles — along with power forwards Marvin Bagley III, Nemanja Bjelica, Caleb Swanigan, Tyler Lydon and two-way player Wenyen Gabriel.
The 6’10” Mika, 24, was a member of Sacramento’s California Classic summer league squad last month. He played three games and averaged 8.3 PPG and 9.3 RPG in 19.3 MPG. He also appeared in five Las Vegas summer league games for the franchise and averaged 9.2 PPG and 7.0 RPG in 17.0 MPG.
Mika went undrafted out of BYU in 2017. He played overseas with Germani Basket Brescia of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A and Medi Bayreuth of Germany’s Basketball Bundesliga last season, posting averages of 8.2 PPG and 3.9 RPG in 15.9 MPG in 41 games.
Top pick Zion Williamson of the Pelicans is considered the favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award by his peers, but he’s not a clear-cut choice. The second pick in the draft, point guard Ja Morant of the Grizzlies, finished a close second in the voting. However, that might not be such a good thing for either player.
For the 11th time in 13 years, John Schuhmann of NBA.com got the opportunity to ask the NBA’s incoming crop of rookies a series of questions related to their fellow draftees.
Historically, the NBA rookies haven’t been soothsayers. They haven’t accurately identified a Rookie of the Year winner since Kevin Durant in 2007/08. Last season, Deandre Ayton and Collin Sexton were considered the co-favorites. Luka Doncic ended up winning the award with Trae Young finishing a solid second.
Here’s some of the highlights from the survey:
- Williamson got 35% of the vote for the Rookie of the Year prize, while Morant received 27% backing. No one else got more than 5%.
- Nuggets second-round pick Bol Bol and Cavaliers’ late first-rounder Kevin Porter Jr. were considered the steals of the draft, with each getting 19% of the vote.
- Two players stood out to their peers as being the best defenders in the draft — the Sixers’ Matisse Thybulle and the Hawks’ De’Andre Hunter. Thybulle collected 37% of the votes in that category, while Hunter received 29% backing.
- By a wide margin, Williamson was chosen as the most athletic rookie, garnering 87% of the votes. Morant was selected as the best ball-handler, receiving 40% of those votes.
- The Heat‘s Tyler Herro (33%) edged out the Kings’ Kyle Guy (29%) as the best shooter.
- LeBron James (38%) got the highest total in the ‘Favorite player in the league’ category with Kevin Durant (20%) finishing second.
- The combination of a tough travel schedule and no guarantee of playing time may have convinced De’Aaron Fox to leave Team USA, suggests James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area. The Americans will spend 12 days in Australia and maybe 17 days in China, then the Kings have a preseason trip to India. Ham notes that amounts to about 40,000 air miles before the season begins.
Kings guard De’Aaron Fox will become the latest player to withdraw from Team USA, according to Yahoo Sports’ Chris B. Haynes (Twitter link). Fox will focus on Sacramento’s 2019/20 season with the goal of making the postseason, Haynes adds.
In addition to Fox, Rockets’ center P.J. Tucker withdrew on Friday due to injury, with Kyle Lowry and Marvin Bagley having previously pulled out. Team USA is down to 13 players, so just one more cut is necessary to set its 12-man roster for the 2019 World Cup.
Fox, 21, is entering this season coming off an outstanding sophomore campaign for the Kings. In 81 games, the University of Kentucky Product averaged 17.3 PPG and 7.3 APG for Sacramento.
- Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox has caught everyone’s attention at the USA Basketball training camp with his quickness and Celtics guard Kemba Walker sees Fox’s jumper improving as well. “What impressed me the most is probably his shooting,” Walker told ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk and other reporters. “He has really been knocking it down. That is what is going to take him to that next level. Like for myself entering the league, the next step for me was my jump shot. That is what helped me get to the next level.” Whenever he consistently gets that, it will be over.” Fox shot 45.8% overall and 37.1% from long range in his second NBA season.
- Luke Walton has already made a good impression with Kings players prior to training camp, as Kyle Goon of the Orange County Register details. Big man Marvin Bagley is one of the players that Walton has supervised during personal workouts. “He’s been there helping me out,” Bagley said of his new coach. “Been there for my workouts, telling me what I’m doing right, what I’m doing wrong, what I need to get better at. I think it’s gonna be an exciting year. I’m looking forward to playing for him as a head coach and getting into it.”
As first reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, a knee injury will prevent Heat forward Kelly Olynyk from playing for Team Canada during this year’s World Cup in China. The Heat confirmed as much today in a press release announcing Olynyk’s right knee bone bruise.
According to Wojnarowski and the Heat, Olynyk is expected to be ready for the start of the NBA regular season. However, it’s not clear whether he’ll be healthy enough to fully participate in training camp next month. If he’s not, it could mean added reps for the likes of Meyers Leonard, James Johnson, Duncan Robinson, and/or some camp invitees.
As for Team Canada, their World Cup squad takes yet another hit. It has been overshadowed by all the Team USA withdrawals, but Team Canada has also experienced an exodus of NBA players from its roster, as we detailed last week. Olynyk joins Jamal Murray, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tristan Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Dwight Powell, and many other Canadians on the list of players won’t be participating in the 2019 World Cup.
Here are a few more notes related to the World Cup:
- Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca takes a more in-depth look at the disappointing turnout for Team Canada. Nick Nurse‘s club is down to two NBA players: Cory Joseph (Kings) and Khem Birch (Magic). Plus, a source told Olgun Uluc of FOXSports.com.au this week that Joseph had yet to arrive in Australia for the team’s warmup games.
- Travis Wear, Chris Chiozza, Scotty Hopson, John Jenkins, Ben Moore, Chinanu Onuaku, Chasson Randle, and Travis Trice are among the players who helped Team USA qualify for the 2019 World Cup and are now part of the Select Team scrimmaging against the primary roster in California this week, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press.
- Despite all the players who have removed their names from consideration for USA Basketball’s World Cup roster, Aron Baynes (Australia) still views Team USA as a powerhouse, as Olgun Uluc of FOXSports.com.au relays. “Everyone’s talking about how bad they’re gonna be. But, you’re still looking, and the team that they have are still current All-Stars and are going to be future All-Stars,” Baynes said. “We’re not gonna take them any more [lightly] than we would if it was the top five NBA players right now.”
Kings forward Marvin Bagley III has withdrawn from Team USA’s training camp to focus on the upcoming NBA season, according to Marc Stein of the New York Times (Twitter link).
Bagley, who earned a promotion to the Team USA senior roster by playing well in training camp last week, had impressed coaches and officials enough to earn consideration for the final 12-man roster that has yet to be finalized, Stein notes in a separate tweet.
Bagley is coming off a rookie season that saw him average 14.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and one block in 25.3 minutes per contest, playing off the bench in 62 of his 65 games. He beat out fellow bigs Thaddeus Young and Bam Adebayo to make the senior roster on Team USA.
The Kings still have third-year guard De’Aaron Fox and veteran forward Harrison Barnes vying to make the final group out of 16 remaining players. The FIBA World Cup is scheduled to begin play on Aug. 31, with Team USA set to have its first game on Sept. 1.