The Sacramento Kings entered the Orlando bubble mostly healthy, but that’s changed completely over the past few days of practice and scrimmages.
After being on hiatus for a few months, the NBA is days away from restarting its regular season in the Orlando bubble. For most teams, they entered the continued season relatively healthy due to the long break players had. One of the teams that were supposedly in good health was the Sacramento Kings.
Before the league shut down, the purple and white were plagued by the injury bug as players went down left and right throughout the season. One could say it was an advantage at first for Sacramento to play in the bubble due to them receiving extra time to get healthy and finally play with their full squad, but now they are back at a disadvantage.
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In the last couple of days, the injury bug continues to curse the Kings as main players like De’Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley III suffered lower-body injuries. Harrison Barnes tested positive for COVID-19 and was not with the team in Orlando before this week.
For Fox and Barnes, the assumption is that they are projected to play once the regular season starts again, but that does not mean they will be completely healthy and are also losing valuable practice time with their teammates. As for Bagley, the news gets worse as he is out for the remainder of the season with an ankle sprain.
Before the 2019-20 season began, many in the Kings community were optimistic about the team finally breaking the organization’s 13-year playoff drought. With a promising young core and complementary veteran players, it seemed realistic that the Kings would be bound for the postseason. Unfortunately, reality set in, and the Kings remained the Kings. The team got cursed by injuries and have been inconsistent all season long.
But hey, the purple and white still have life remaining to make this season great. The team is still healthier than it was since the season opener and they are not too behind in the Western Conference standings. The purple and white just need to finish ninth in the West and four games behind the eighth seed. They are currently tied for the ninth seed with the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers and are just 3.5 games back from the eighth seed.
Despite the disappointment that the Kings have brought towards their fans this season, they also have shown the potential of what they can be. They did have one of the best records after the NBA All-Star break, so maybe they can take that momentum when they compete in Orlando. With just eight games remaining until the postseason begins, a hot Sacramento team could leapfrog their way to the ninth or eighth seed and have the chance to finally break their playoff drought.
Even with all the minor hiccups, the Kings have endured since entering the bubble, they will resume the regular season the healthiest they have been since the beginning of their campaign. The only players that are projected not to play for the Kings are Marvin Bagley and Alex Len.
The opportunity for the Sacramento Kings to gain respect is right in front of them. Now it is time to show the world what they can do. But please, no more injuries.