The injury bug has been biting the Kings a lot lately, and unfortunately it looks like Sacramento will be without one of their young players for a little while longer. Skal Labissiere, who has missed the last two games with a shoulder strain, will miss another 2-3 weeks as he rehabs the shoulder to full strength.

Per the Kings, Labissiere’s shoulder injury hasn’t gotten any worse than before; The decision was made after Labissiere visited an orthopedic specialist who recommended that in order to fully heal the shoulder, 2-3 weeks off the court would be needed. Given that the Kings are nowhere near the playoff hunt, prudence and caution with all their young players is best in order to ensure long term health.

It’s unclear just when Labissiere suffered this injury, and no one play seems to be the cause of it, but Labissiere has been wearing medical tape on his shoulder for the past week or so.

Center Willie Cauley-Stein has also missed the last two games due to a knee injury suffered against the Miami Heat, but according to Coach Dave Joerger at practice today, Willie is on track to play tomorrow. Malachi Richardson is dealing with a sprained ankle that will likely keep him out another week, and rookie guard Frank Mason is still recovering from that torn plantar fascia. Mason’s original prognosis was 4-6 weeks, and today marks about the 4th week since then. We should get an update on Mason’s potential return soon.

It’s quite possible that Labissiere and Richardson have played their last game for the Sacramento Kings. The NBA Trade Deadline is one week from today on February 8th, and multiple reports have seemed to indicate that Labissiere and Richardson have been shopped by the Kings, potentially to clear room for a George Hill trade. Whether anything comes of that remains to be seen, but we’ll find out soon enough.

The Kings return to action on Friday with a visit from the Golden State Warriors, and they will play their next four games at home before embarking on a three game road trip before All-Star Weekend.