Kings mailbag: Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III, small lineups and speed in NBA bubble?
The Kings are scheduled to hold their first practice inside the NBA bubble Friday night after players, coaches and staff complete a 48-hour quarantine in their rooms at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida. The three-hour practice session will represent their first team basketball activities since the NBA suspended play in March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Kings coach Luke Walton will have 21 days to prepare his team to resume the season against the San Antonio Spurs on July 31, the first of eight seeding games Sacramento will play in hopes of reaching the playoffs. Walton appears to have a full, healthy roster for the first time all season, so he will have difficult decisions to make in terms of his starting lineup and the team’s crowded frontcourt rotation.
The team was playing well when the season was suspended, having won seven of 10 and 13 of 20 to get within 3½ games of the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed in the Western Conference. The starters at the time were De’Aaron Fox, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Harrison Barnes, Nemanja Bjelica and Harry Giles III. Cory Joseph, Buddy Hield, Kent Bazemore, Harry Giles III and Alex Len were playing big roles off the bench. Richaun Holmes had just returned from a shoulder injury. Marvin Bagley III was still out with a foot injury, but that was four months ago.
The competition for minutes and a couple of position battles could be intense in the weeks ahead. Kings fans have questions about some of the personnel decisions Walton will have to make. Let’s see if we can come up with some answers in the return of the Kings mailbag.
Note: Some questions have been edited for length and clarity.
@TristianMG99 asks: What is the rotation? Fox, Bogi, Barnes, Bjelica and Holmes in the starting lineup with Joseph, Buddy, Baze, (Corey) Brewer, Giles, Len, Bagley and Yogi (Ferrell) coming off the bench?
Yeah, something like that, but some of those starting jobs and Bagley’s role are to be determined. Walton got to know his players over the first half of the season — and spent a lot of time drilling down on half-court execution and defense, not always playing to their strengths — but he will be taking a fresh look at his roster following the long layoff.
Walton has acknowledged the difference between the regular-season format and this eight-game sprint in the bubble format. This is not the time for long-term team building and player development. Walton says he is playing to win right now.
Multiple sources have confirmed the Kings intend to push the pace with Fox. The Kings got away from one of their greatest strengths over the first half of the season as Walton implemented his offense and Fox missed extended time with an ankle injury, but they want to play fast in Florida.
This plan will influence lineup and rotation decisions. Barnes has been starting at small forward, but the Kings have been much better with him at power forward in small-ball lineups, a trend Walton has pointed to throughout the season. If Walton commits to that idea, you could see Fox and Hield in the backcourt with Bogdanovic at small forward, Barnes at power forward and Holmes at center. Your bench unit would consist of Joseph, Bazemore, Brewer, Bjelica, Bagley, Giles and Len.
Does Walton start Hield? Does Bjelica go to the bench? Does Bagley push Holmes for the center spot or fall out of the rotation completely? Does anyone remember how dominant the Kings were defensively with Len averaging 15.4 rebounds and 3.1 blocks per 36 minutes as a backup center?
Those are questions we can’t answer at this point, but most of the minutes will go to Fox, Hield, Bogdanovic, Barnes, Bazemore, Bjelica, Holmes and Bagley. Joseph will back up Fox. Giles and Len will log minutes when the Kings want to get big. Brewer may or may not land safely when he gets in the game, creates a steal and throws down a breakaway dunk.
Ferrell could be called upon in the event of injury or (gulp) illness. The same is true for rookies Justin James and Kyle Guy.
@PlanetXNick asks: Will Buddy Hield be cleared in time for the restart?
The Kings have not answered this question officially and at this point it’s unclear if Hield has joined the team in Florida, but there’s no reason to believe he won’t be ready.
Hield recently tested positive for COVID-19, most likely on June 22, the first day NBA teams conducted mandatory testing after players returned to home markets. Len tested positive the same day in Sacramento. Parker tested positive several days earlier in Chicago.
Hield told The Sacramento Bee he would “be fine” on June 25 and Walton said “all three of those guys are reporting doing much better” on July 1.
Under the NBA’s health and safety guidelines, any player who tests positive must quarantine and produce two negative tests results before receiving medical clearance to make the trip to Florida. Protocols also require players who test positive to refrain from exercise training for a period of two weeks from the date of the first positive test or the resolution of viral symptoms, whichever date is later.
Under those guidelines, any player who tests positive will be out a minimum of 14 days before he can participate in practices or games. Well over two weeks have passed since Hield, Len and Parker tested positive for the virus. Barring setbacks, all three should be available, but the Kings did not respond when asked if those players were with the team Thursday evening.
@FBCoachDreyer asks: Do you see the Kings trying to get Bagley 28+ minutes? For the record, I’d prefer to see him play when the pace of the game indicates he can succeed. But I don’t like him as a half-court big right now.
Bagley has an opportunity here that wouldn’t have been afforded to him if the season had not been suspended in March. He felt he was nearly ready to return after missing 29 of the last 33 games with a foot injury, but the Kings were playing their best basketball of the season. Walton would have had little practice time to reintegrate Bagley in the final weeks of the regular season, but now Bagley is healthy and the Kings have three weeks to see how he fits.
Does Bagley come out like an uncaged beast who knows his role and plays to his strengths or does he clutter up the offense while looking lost on defense? Those are questions only Bagley can answer, but the Kings want him to command a leading role after selecting him with the No. 2 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. If he’s ready, he’ll get big minutes. If not, he will benefit from being a healthy participant in practice and games while building for next season.
@betbs asks: Am I the only person wanting to see Bagley play small forward?
Probably so, but you might get your wish someday. Bagley doesn’t possess the skill set needed to play that position right now. Walton has gone on record saying Bagley can be a multi-positional threat like reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo as his game develops, but he’s not there yet. Walton explained he was trying to simplify things for Bagley when he moved him from power forward to center earlier this season.
“We want him to get really comfortable with the playbook at one spot first, and when he’s really comfortable at that spot then we can move him,” Walton told The Bee in December. “If we play him with Richaun now, he’s playing the 4 and every play we call, he’s got to be somewhere else and make different reads. We want him to be free out there. We want him to be able to go all out, so he’ll play one position for now and then we’ll grow that out so, eventually, one day, he’s playing 1 through 5 like Giannis does in Milwaukee.”
@TristanMG99 asks: Will Richaun Holmes shoot a 3-pointer per game? They leave him open because of the quick first step and I have seen him make 3s. Just wondering.
Holmes shot 35.1 percent from 3-point range on 1.4 attempts per game with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016-17, but he hasn’t attempted a 3 in a game over the past two seasons with the Phoenix Suns and Kings. I don’t see the Kings trying to make that part of his game at this point in the season, but it might be something he works to refine in the offseason.
In fact, in the final stages of rehabilitation from his shoulder injury, we often saw Holmes extending his range to include the corner 3 during individual workouts, and it was not uncommon to see him knock down several in a row.
