The Sacramento Kings may not have a terrible roster, but it will be an uphill climb for them to qualify for the NBA playoffs this season. That was true even before the injuries to key players they have had to deal with lately.
Keegan Murray, their starting power forward, will have to sit for at least a month because of a torn UCL in his left thumb. Now, it has been announced that they will be without star center Domantas Sabonis, who has a strained hamstring. He’s expected to miss the Kings’ first two regular-season games this coming week.
“The Sacramento Kings have ruled All-Star center Domantas Sabonis out for their first two regular season games next week because of a Grade 1 hamstring strain, the team announced,” wrote Anthony Slater of ESPN.
“Sabonis left the team’s preseason loss to the Clippers last Wednesday night with the hamstring issue and then missed the preseason finale in Los Angeles on Friday night while undergoing testing.”
Sabonis, 29, is arguably the best player on Sacramento’s roster. A three-time All-Star, he averaged 19.1 points, 13.9 rebounds and six assists a game last season, and he has led the NBA in rebounding average in each of the last three seasons.
He’s a major hub in the team’s halfcourt offense, and it will have to work significantly harder to manufacture offense in his absence.
Luckily, Sacramento does have wings Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan, both of whom have also been All-Stars and can get plenty of buckets. The squad will have to lean on both men, as well as on spark-plug guard Malik Monk, fairly heavily to start the 2025-26 campaign.
The Kings have made the playoffs just once in the last 19 seasons, and they haven’t advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2004. With all the depth and talent in the Western Conference, the chances of their bucking that trend don’t look great, no matter how healthy they will be once Sabonis and Murray return.
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