We have our first official medical update on Domantas Sabonis. An MRI confirmed he has a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. The announcement by the Sacramento Kings also states that he will be re-evaluated in a week.
This means he is going to miss the season opener Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns.
As we mentioned previously, Sabonis suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring injury last season on March 1. He didn’t play in a game again until March 14.
The positives here are that the injury isn’t too serious and that the team played decently without him in Friday’s preseason finale win over the Los Angeles Lakers. The regular season is a different story, of course.
Get well soon, Domas.
Get well, Ox. You are one of the few reasons I am watching the Kings this season.
Ever notice that in The Good, The Bad & The Ugly, that Bad and Ugly are two thirds, and only one third (.333) is Good?
I believe that is why this term is used with greater frequency on this site. It just fits.
Yes, there’s just as much ugly as there is good. I could also see 0.333 being this team’s record this year (~27 wins).
Take it easy, Domas. No reason to rush things when it comes to your health, especially this season.
First thought: “Whatever”
Second, thrid, fourth, fifth and 6th thoughts:
2nd: Clifford is good and should be getting as many minutes as possible. He appears to be ready for back up PG minutes which is actually incredible. Instead of fostering that and moving forward with a pretty awesome possibility that could be evaluated and realized this season we will go into next season still wondering if it is a possibility. So, super cool we signed Russ. If Clifford establishes himself as a PG this season… That draft pick just got even better. Size at that position with his passing skills is potentially a game changer. Not much to go off of but the small sample size I have seen the guy has court vision and passing skills that are far above average. Am I high?
3rd: Ellis is good and should be getting as many minutes as possible. He should be in the starting lineup. Period. The fit is better, he makes the other starting 4 players better. DDR does not do that. However DDR would make the bench unit exponentially better in a way that Ellis can not as a go to scorer. Seems simple and yet it won’t happen.
4th: The solution to optimizing this roster is having DDR backing up LaVine and Ellis.
5th: Eubanks is way better than I thought. He’s not a complete joke which is what I thought when they signed him.
6th: Teams looking to add veteran depth at the trade deadline for a playoff push is the only hope I have for this roster. DDR = trade Westbrook = Trade Monk = Trade Dennis = Trade Saric = Trade Doug McD = Trade Sabonis = Trade (highly unlikely unless he asks to be moved) Lavine = Trade (doubtful BUT you never know).
I really hope DDR, Monk, and Russ are gone by the deadline so Nique can take over as the 6th man and Keon gets ~30 per game (and offer him a new contract!)
The Forward spots still need some work, but hopefully they can address that through the draft.
IMO you could get a forward or two through trades. One example would be Carter and maybe a second for Peyton Watson. Really good up and coming forward who plays really good defense.
I don’t think Carter for Watson would happen. Watson is much better than Carter and is part of their rotation in Denver.
The obvious, to me (ugh!), Is Monk for Kuzma. It balances the roster a lot, opens another avenue for Keon and Ellis to play more, and gives the Kings some better size at the 4. I can also see Vivek liking the deal, ha!
The only thing I’ll say about Watson, along with Christian Braun, is that the Nuggets don’t seen to eager to extend them before tomorrow’s deadline. That means both with be RFAs next summer. Denver doesn’t want to pay the tax, so one of them is likely gone by next free agency. My money is on them keeping Braun over Watson.
Could an expiring contract (McDermott?) and a future 2nd could be enough to get Watson if he falls out of their rotation by the deadline. Don’t forget, they also have DaRon Holmes on the cheap for a while, who they may prefer more.
As much as I hate saying this IMO I agree with your point 6. Sabonis would be the best shot at getting something in return. At 29 now would be the time to make a trade. The more you wait the older he gets and his value goes down lesser and lesser every year. 2 teams I believe would be good trade partners are the Pistons and OKC. You would have to include centers as part of the trades and IMO I prefer Jalen Duren over Hartenstein. There would be more assets included including at least one draft pick if not two. I would also include Carter in your above point 6.
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