Could Harry Giles be out of the Sacramento rotation?

The Sacramento Kings want to win now. After missing the entire preseason with knee soreness, will Harry Giles be able to get any minutes once he’s healthy?

After missing the entire preseason, Harry Giles‘ absence from the Sacramento Kings‘ lineup will likely extend through Wednesday’s season opener against the Phoenix Suns. What was initially reported as knee soreness now has fans worried that a once promising prospect could see another season shortened due to lower body injuries.

Upon his return, could Giles possibly be out of the rotation altogether?

More from Hoops Habit

• 7 Players the Miami Heat might replace Herro with by the trade deadline
• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• NBA Trades: The Lakers bolster their frontcourt in this deal with the Pacers

The 21-year-old appeared in only 58 games last season, averaging 14 minutes a night for the Kings. This came after sitting out the entire 2017-18 season for development and injury prevention purposes.

Giles was the No. 1 high school prospect in ESPN’s Class of 2016 Player Rankings. An ACL injury shortened his senior season at Wesleyan Christian Academy and another knee procedure would delay his lone season at Duke.

Despite an underwhelming college career, the Kings took a flyer on the former top high school prospect, selecting him with the 20th pick in the 2017 draft. The hope had always been that, if healthy, he could regain some of the promise that he had as a high school senior.

To this point, that hasn’t been the case. Now in his third season since being drafted, an unusually vague knee injury has fans wondering just what kind of role Giles can have on this team.

The Kings are no longer the surprising upstart team in the Western Conference with budding stars. They far exceeded expectations in 2018-19 and now have legitimate playoff goals and a path toward contention. With a new head coach and several key veteran additions, the pressure is on for this organization to end their 13-year playoff drought.

They will need to quickly decide whether or not Giles is ready to contribute toward those lofty goals. He’ll have plenty of competition getting those minutes this season in the Kings’ suddenly crowded frontcourt.

Sacramento’s most recent lottery pick, Marvin Bagley III, had a promising preseason where he showed flashes of stardom. There’s no doubt he’ll be the focal point of their frontcourt rotation in his sophomore season as many within the organization expect the former No. 2 overall pick to put up monster numbers.

Next to Bagley, the Kings will begin the season with the 30-year-old big man Dewayne Dedmon as the starting center. The veteran is coming off the best season of his career, during which he shot a respectable 38.2 percent behind the arc.

The combination of rebounding and floor stretching ability at a legitimate 7-feet makes him a no-brainer as a starter and probably nets him close to 30 minutes per game for coach Luke Walton.

With Bagley and Dedmon presumably locked into starting roles, so long as they’re healthy, Giles will have to compete for minutes with the Sacramento Kings’ backup bigs.

Richaun Holmes and Nemanja Bjelica will take the lion’s share of the bench minutes at the 4 and 5 positions for the Sacramento Kings. Both players bring skill sets that Giles has yet to prove he’s capable of providing on a night-to-night basis.

Although he’s young and enough to make a convincing case that his ceiling is higher than both, the Kings are hoping into squeeze into the Western Conference’s top eight and likely won’t have time patient as he figures out the professional game.

Bjelica is a career 38 percent shooter from behind the arc. The Serbian stretch 4 slid in perfectly next to the Kings’ core players last season, providing a skill that Giles just does not have. He started 70 games, scoring 9.6 points per game and making 40 percent of his 3s. At 31 years old he’s clearly the No. 1 option for Walton at the backup 4 spot.

Giles’ best opportunity to earn himself some minutes early in the season will be at the second-string center spot. However, Holmes’ display of energy and athleticism on the glass in the preseason has already made him a fan favorite.

The former Philadelphia 76er and Phoenix Sun provides something that Sacramento’s other bigs may lack; a legitimate defensive presence in the paint.

His energy and ability to protect the rim, along with Bjelica’s ability to stretch the floor, will make it nearly impossible to play Giles significant minutes from the jump. However, luckily for both parties, the Kings don’t need Giles to be ready now. He’ll have time to rehab and develop before he’s asked to be the player they believe he can be.

When asked about the seriousness of Giles’ injury, Walton wanted to reiterate that there was no new injury and that the organization’s focus was on his long term health rather that what he could provide immediately.

"“It’s a long season and it’s a long career. There’s no new injury or anything like that. We just want to make sure, for how we’re playing, that we have him as healthy as we can for the season.”"

For Sacramento Kings fans, there are reasons to be optimistic about Walton’s comments. Not only in knowing that his injury hasn’t gotten any worse, but in knowing that the organization understands what kind of player he can be if he’s able to get fully healthy and reach his ceiling.

What we know, for now, is that the 21-year-old won’t be asked to do more than his body is ready for.