‘It could get scary’: Kings rookie Harry Giles out with injury, but potential is huge
Rookie center Harry Giles III will miss his third consecutive game due to injury when the Kings visit the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center.
The Kings announced Giles will be sidelined again with a left thigh contusion. He’s listed as day-to-day.
Giles sustained the injury in Thursday’s victory over the Mavericks in Sacramento. He did not play against the Phoenix Suns or Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday and Sunday.
The team will likely take a cautious approach with Giles given his injury history. The Kings drafted Giles in 2017, but he sat out last season while recovering from a series of knee injuries that nearly crippled his career in high school.
Kings coach Dave Joerger said the team’s medical staff has ruled out structural damage associated with this latest injury. Before the injury, Giles was asked when he last felt this good physically.
“Man, it’s been a long time,” said Giles, once projected as a No. 1 overall draft pick before tearing the ACLs in both knees in high school. “Easy to say before I got hurt, but I’m older now. I’ve gone through a whole different kind of training, a whole different kind of strength program, and I’m kind of reaching new marks as a person and as a player, so I feel like I’m at a new level. Probably at a point that I’ve never been here before, so it could get scary.”
Giles is averaging 7.0 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 14.1 minutes per game, but his minutes — and contributions — were trending up in recent weeks. In 10 games before suffering the bruised thigh, Giles averaged 11.5 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 19.4 minutes per game.
Giles logged limited minutes early in the season and served two brief stints with Sacramento’s G League affiliate in Stockton, but he has progressed nicely over the course of the season. He had 18 points against the Milwaukee Bucks on Feb. 27, 17 points against the New York Knicks on March 4 and 16 points against the Chicago Bulls on March 17.
Giles’ massive potential is evident in his averages per 36 minutes as compared to other rookies in a talented class that includes No. 1 pick Deandre Ayton, No. 2 pick Marvin Bagley III, No. 3 pick Luka Doncic and No. 4 pick Trae Young. Among rookies, Giles ranks seventh in scoring (17.9), sixth in rebounding (9.7) and steals (1.4) and fifth in assists (3.7).
“I think the game is probably slowing down for him a little bit,” Joerger said. “He’s certainly got much more corporate knowledge at this point. I don’t think we hurried him along. I think we brought him along. Obviously, he’s not where he wants to be and we know where he can be talent-wise and going forward.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2019 at 4:27 PM with the headline "‘It could get scary’: Kings rookie Harry Giles out with injury, but potential is huge."