Kings mailbag: Does Kyle Guy have a future in the NBA? What’s Harry Giles’ role?
Readers wanted to know all about Kyle Guy, the former Virginia shooting guard drafted by the Kings in the second round of the draft. We also touch on Harry Giles, those terrible third quarters and a little life advice.
To the mailbag!
What has been the general reception for him in Sacramento? Do you think he is realistically part of a long-range plan? Do you think he even has a future in the NBA? – Geoffrey Raymond, via email
Guy hasn’t made much noise with the Kings for a couple of reasons. For starters, he’s with the Stockton Kings and the G League season hasn’t tipped off yet. Stockton starts its season Friday.
Moreover, despite being named the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four, which his Virginia team won, Guy faces an uphill battle to make it to the Kings roster.
To start with, he’s short, at 6-foot-1. (Some websites list him at 6-3, but the NBA’s official listing is 6-1, as teams are now required to actually measure and list players’ heights.) That’s well short of what teams look for in a typical shooting guard and he would be defending players who are a half foot taller.
And the Kings already have plenty of shooting guard talent, with Buddy Hield and Bogdan Bogdanovich, to name a couple.
So he’ll likely need to learn to play point guard to make it to the Kings roster. But again, the Kings have a glut there, with fellow rookie Justin James ahead of Guy on the depth chart, not to mention De’Aaron Fox and Cory Joseph.
If you’re looking for a reason to believe, the Kings are intrigued by his shooting ability, and players who make shots tend to find their way onto an NBA roster.
Guy has a two-year, two-way contract, meaning he can spend up to 45 days a year on the NBA roster while mostly biding his time in Stockton. If he improves and bulks up a bit, the Kings could let some of their other guards leave via free agency to bring Guy to the NBA roster.
It’s not like short players can’t succeed in the NBA. The Kings drafted Isaiah Thomas, who is 5-9, and was an MVP candidate with the Celtics.
But players like Thomas are exceptional. Odds are not great that Guy will become an NBA regular.
Has (Harry Giles) talked to Luke Walton about his role when he comes back? – Jihoon Kim, via Twitter
It’s easy to get the feeling Giles is out of favor with the Kings. Of course, the team didn’t pick up a $4 million option to keep him under contract next season, making him a free agent next summer. Then there’s the fact he didn’t practice for much of October, citing knee pain. Walton says Giles will get a chance to play in a game again when the coaching staff is satisfied he’s working hard enough in practice.
One guy in means another guy is sitting out, though. With Dewayne Dedmon, Richaun Holmes, Nemanja Bjelica, Harrison Barnes and Trevor Ariza playing most of the minutes at center and power forward, there isn’t a clear path to minutes for Giles as Walton appears to be settling on a rotation he’s happy with.
Why have the Kings been so bad in third quarters? – Jason Robinson, via email
The Kings have led at halftime of six of seven games but have a 2-5 record. So something has been happening after halftime. Teams make adjustments at halftime, so it’s entirely possible opponents are picking up on something and implementing changes to knock out the Kings in the second half.
But that ignores a simple fact: The Kings haven’t looked great in the first half, either. They’ve been ragged on defense and disjointed on offense. That they managed halftime leads and went on to lose is more of a fluke than anything. Walton said as much to the media when asked about it after the win over the Knicks, saying the team hasn’t really talked about third-quarter struggles at halftime.
Do the questions need to be about basketball? – Wee Bey, via Twitter
Not necessarily.
Let’s start simple. Save 10 percent from every paycheck into a retirement account. Pay your future self so you have more financial options.
This story was originally published November 6, 2019 at 4:12 AM.