Record: 28-36
Championship Odds: +50000
Key Players:
De’Aaron Fox: 20.4 PPG, 6.8 APG, 4.0 RPG
Buddy Hield: 19.8 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 3.1 APG
Harrison Barnes: 14.7 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.4 APG
Richaun Holmes: 12.8 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 1.4 BPG
Players Sitting Out:
There have yet to be any official announcements regarding player status, but at least 4 members of the Kings party have tested positive for COVID and didn’t travel to Florida with the group.Buddy Hield, Alex Len, and Jabari Parker have announced their positive tests previously, and Hield did not appear at the Kings first practice in Florida yesterday, with social media indicating he is still at home. His status for the restart is unclear, and head coach Luke Walton has said the team has prepared to play without their top players given the circumstances.
Schedule
Day | Opponent | Time | TV |
7/31 | San Antonio Spurs | 8:00 pm | NBCS CA |
8/2 | Orlando Magic | 6:00 pm | NBA TV |
8/4 | Dallas Mavericks | 2:30 pm | NBCS CA |
8/6 | New Orleans Pelicans | 1:30 pm | NBA TV |
8/7 | Brooklyn Nets | 5:00 pm | NBCS CA |
8/9 | Houston Rockets | 8:00 pm | NBCS CA |
8/11 | New Orleans Pelicans | 9:00 pm | TNT |
8/13 | Los Angeles Lakers | TBD | TBD |
Bubble Preview
The bubble experience can go one of two ways for the Kings, either De’Aaron Fox will be explosive, the team will play fast, Buddy Hield will arrive safely, Marvin Bagley will begin to play like a #2 overall pick and they can claw their way into a playoff series or at least a play-in game. Or it could blow up and Hield will miss games, Bagley will continue to struggle as he did in limited time this season, and the team will continue to struggle with him as they did this year.
Far and away the Kings best player, De’Aaron Fox continued to improve his numbers, but missed 17 games this year. Former #2 overall pick Marvin Bagley also struggled staying on the court and only played in 13 games, yet they still find themselves tied for 9th only 3.5 GB after missing time from some of their cornerstone pieces. The roster has plenty of raw talent and potential in guys like Bagley, Giles, Bjelica, and Bogdanovic and others on the bench. If things gel together for Sacramento in just the right way they can make a run to sneak in. They don’t get head to head matchups with the Trail Blazers or Grizzlies, but they do face the Pelicans twice. With a favorable strength of schedule ranking, and a young core that can truly play to have fun and be loose, the Kings can play spoiler for some of the other teams who may have written them off for a playoff spot.