Sacramento Kings: 3 candidates for a breakout season in 2019-20
By Nick Crain
3. Harry Giles III
Heading into college, Harry Giles was ranked the No. 1 player in the 2016 class by ESPN. After a knee surgery prior to his freshman season at Duke, he would miss a large chunk of the season. Due to this injury, he only played in six college basketball games.
Many thought Giles could be the first pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. Due to his injury history and not having many games to showcase his talent in college, he slipped down draft boards. With how much upside he had, Giles was still taken with the No. 20 pick in the draft.
Giles would ultimately sit out his entire rookie season to continue to rehab his torn ACL and strengthen it to prevent further injury. This resulted in him not playing his rookie year until the 2018-19 season.
He averaged 7.0 points and 3.8 rebounds per game in his first season of professional play.
With last year technically being his rookie season, Giles will now enter his second NBA season in 2019-20. Still 21 years old, he has much room to grow. Many players see major jumps in production between year one and year two, which should be expected from Harry Giles.
With an entire season of experience under his belt as well as being further removed from injury, Giles is a breakout candidate for the Sacramento Kings.