Luke Walton’s tenure as head coach of the Kings is off to a difficult start, notes Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee. Preseason was conducted around 20-hour flights to and from India, and the regular season started with a 29-point loss that saw Marvin Bagley break his right thumb. Some fans are angry that Bagley was on the court in the final minutes of a blowout, but Walton defends the decision, saying it’s part of building a winning organization.
“Marvin is a huge part of our future, so we’ve got to get the time and the reps with him,” Walton said. “But to speak on who Marvin is, he fractures his thumb two days ago and he was at shootaround (Friday), in the weight room, running sprints with our strength coach. He’s going to do everything he can possibly do to stay in shape and even get better. I’ve already informed him that I want him sitting next to our coaches during games so he can talk to them about what he sees and (we can) continue to coach him.”
There’s more Kings news to pass along:
- Knee issues have been a long-time concern for Harry Giles, but he insists the latest one is nothing to be concerned about, relays Jason Jones of the Athletic. Giles practiced just once during training camp and wasn’t cleared for contact until this week. Still, he has declared himself healthy on social media and in a session with reporters last night. “Nothing happened,” he said. “Just ramped it up from workouts and my knee flared up a little bit. When you have a knee or something like that, there’s players that go through that all the time. It happens year-round, you’ve just got to approach it and treat it the right way.” The team hasn’t set a timetable for his return.
- Bogdan Bogdanovic is denying a report that he’s unhappy as a reserve, tweets James Ham of NBC Sports Bay Area. He stressed that he’s willing to play any role to help the Kings win.
- Bogdanovic’s decision to turn down an extension offer makes him more likely to be traded, writes Tommy Beer of Forbes. Bogdanovic is headed for restricted free agency, and the Kings already have nearly $200MM tied up in Harrison Barnes and Buddy Hield, with extensions looming for De’Aaron Fox and Bagley the next two summers. Beer suggests the Knicks might be interested, as Bogdanovic would fill their need for an outside shooter.
Two 20 hour flights is a joke. Kings and Pacers served as Adam Silvers international money grab lab rats.
They need to replace China with India. So if these guys want their $$$ they’ll suck it up.
In my opinion I think they would be best off trading Bogdan. He’s a nice player but he’s not going to start over the players ahead of him and the more way he wants isn’t worth paying to a reserve especially if said reserve is unhappy. Not exactly sure what you’d get back from him, maybe straight swap Bogdan for Kyle Anderson. Anderson is a solid defender on a nice deal and is still reasonably young. Then having Anderson gives you the opportunity to trade Ariza which could get you a nice return