The Sacramento Kings and the rest of the NBA are looking at a long hiatus. How might this impact the team? Let’s explore the possibilities.
As of now, the NBA is on hiatus for three months. This would put the season to restart up in mid-June and that’s a best-case scenario. With this hiatus in full effect, this can affect the Sacramento Kings season drastically in both positive and negative ways.
Some positives could be that it gives Marvin Bagley to rehab, head coach Luke Walton some time to reassess the season with upper management, and incorporate or change defensive or offensive schemes. Some negatives are players might be unable to practice and of course the possibility of the season being canceled. This article, in particular, will discuss these pros and cons.
Pros
1: Marvin Bagley comeback?
With the Sacramento Kings season still in limbo, can Marvin Bagley come back? In my opinion, I do think this is more of a possibility now than before. If Bagley’s foot is indeed healed then the Kings should play him for the final however many games the Kings will have left after the hiatus, as it will give the organization an idea of what their plans are for him for the future and be developmental time for him.
2: Luke Walton has time to reassess
The three-plus month NBA shutdown can give Luke Walton time to assess the team’s performance as a whole. He can implement new plays, can develop new defensive schemes and new offensive schemes. Walton also has time to communicate with Vlade Divac and Vivek Ranadive on what their next plan of action should be as during a regular season there is no time between games to reassess the season’s strategy.
3: Players have time to heal and rest
With players like De’Aaron Fox and Cory Joseph suffering a burden of injuries they have played through, this hiatus gives them time to get their bodies close to 100 percent. It also gives guys like Harrison Barnes the time to rest as he like the rest of the players on the team have traveled to Asia a couple of times this season which included a trip to India and China.
Cons
1: No time for practice?
It has been a week since the hiatus has started, and NBA teams have decided to close down facilities. This puts the team in a tough place since there are no times for players to practice which means players will come out rusty out of the brake because of the consistency of conditioning not being there. For the Kings, it means as soon as the gym opens up they need to get up to speed as there will not be any margin for error in having a chance to make the playoffs.
2: Shortened season?
With the possibility of the season being shortened, it puts the Kings in a tough boat as it means this will be the 14th consecutive season the Kings will fail to make the playoffs. In the best-case scenario, perhaps Ranadive could convince Adam Silver to finish out the season, and if Silver does not think that’s reasonable then he should propose a play-in tournament where the Memphis Grizzlies would have leverage as they are in the eighth spot by a three and a half-game margin.
3: Playoff chances change?
Since there is a 3-month break, this can also affect the Kings’ playoff chances. Teams like the Memphis Grizzlies, New Orlean Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers also have injuries to guys like Jaren Jackson Jr., Justise Winslow, JJ Reddick, Zach Collins, and Jusuf Nurkic. If these players come back at all for their respective team this also means that the Kings have no margin for error.
Overall thoughts
Although Kings fans might not see their team for months, they should have the rest of the season to look forward to. With all the chaos going on, this would definitely be the making of the “Cardiac Kings” way of making the playoffs.
With this said Kings fans with all the uncertainty right now should definitely take care of themselves and their health.
The NBA has been very vocal about helping in stopping the spread of COVID-19 and in addition to preventing the spread of the virus, they have announced that fans can now watch NBA League Pass for a whole month up to April 22nd. This means Sacramento Kings fans can catch past games from this season and last season.