Kings gameday live: De’Aaron Fox says trades brought ‘breath of fresh air’ to Sacramento
The Kings had two days of practice following the All-Star break to get better acquainted with each other after general manager Monte McNair made two big moves to reshape the roster ahead of the NBA trade deadline.
Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield, Marvin Bagley III and Tristan Thompson were noticeably missing from the team’s practice facility, their unique and unmistakable presences replaced by the likes of Domantas Sabonis, Donte DiVincenzo, Justin Holiday, Jeremy Lamb, Trey Lyles and Josh Jackson. Kings point guard De’Aaron Fox said the mood in the room has changed with all parties feeling they have an opportunity for a fresh start.
“I think the mood is definitely a bit better,” Fox said. “It’s definitely different when guys come into new situations, guys coming from Indiana, guys coming from Detroit and Donte coming from Milwaukee … it’s like a breath of fresh air when you have a change of scenery.”
The Kings will play host to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday at Golden 1 Center with hopes of making a late push for the play-in tournament over the last 22 games. The Kings (22-38) posted back-to-back wins over the Minnesota Timberwolves and Washington Wizards in their first two games with Sabonis before losing to the Brooklyn Nets and Chicago Bulls.
The Nuggets (33-25) were playing at a high level going into the All-Star break. Led by reigning MVP Nikola Jokic, they have won three in a row and five of their last six, including impressive victories over the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors.
The Kings are 13th in the Western Conference coming out of the break, 3 ½ games behind the Portland Trail Blazers for the final play-in berth. The Trail Blazers could be on the verge of collapse after announcing Jusuf Nurkic will miss a minimum of four weeks due to plantar fasciitis, but the Kings would also have to leapfrog the New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs.
Whether the Kings make the play-in tournament or not, Fox said the last six weeks of the regular season will be good for them as they build toward a full season with Sabonis in 2022-23.
“Just us being able to get that feel for each other and see the chemistry from to fruition, I think, is definitely huge,” Fox said. “Success isn’t always immediate with trades and signings and things like that, so it’s definitely something that we look towards the future, but we have the team that could definitely make some noise before the season ends.”
Note: Check back throughout the day for updates on tonight’s game between the Kings and Nuggets.
Denver Nuggets at Sacramento Kings
When: 7 p.m.
Where: Golden 1 Center
TV: NBC Sports California
Radio: Sports 1140 KHTK
Odds: Nuggets -4.5
Over/under: 231
Injury report
Nuggets: OUT — Vlatko Cancar (foot); Jamal Murray (knee); Michael Porter Jr. (spine).
Kings: OUT — Terence Davis (wrist).
This story was originally published February 24, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
