All the momentum the Sacramento Kings had when the NBA season shut down in March disappeared when they arrived in the bubble.The disappointing performance in Florida has left the Kings on the outside of the playoffs for the 14th straight season. That's the longest active drought in the NBA and led to change in the front office with Vlade Divac stepping down as general manager.“I feel like you’re always trying to play your best basketball late into March and April and I thought we were on our way to doing that,” first-year coach Luke Walton said. “So that part of it, I thought it was a success. We hit a bunch of lows this year too. Some came from injuries, some came from the way we were playing and that, we don’t want to see.”Those lows were evident in the bubble when the Kings lost five of their first six games to get eliminated from postseason contention. The team was hampered by Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield, Jabari Parker and Alex Len all positive for COVID-19 and missing practice time... [More]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sacramento Kings forward Trevor Ariza will miss the final two preseason games after he had a procedure to remove a lipoma from his back.The Kings said Ariza had the procedure Friday and would be re-evaluated after the preseason finale against Melbourne United on Wednesday.In addition, forward-center Harry Giles is sidelined by a sore left knee and also is likely to miss the last two preseason games. He underwent an MRI on Sept. 30.Sacramento signed forward Hollis Thompson, who averaged 16.6 points per game with the Phoenix Suns G League affiliate last season.The Kings open the regular season Oct. 23 at Phoenix.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sacramento Kings forward Trevor Ariza will miss the final two preseason games after he had a procedure to remove a benign tumor from his back.The Kings said Ariza had the procedure Friday and would be re-evaluated after the preseason finale against Melbourne United on Wednesday.In addition, forward-center Harry Giles is sidelined by a sore left knee and also is likely to miss the last two preseason games. He underwent an MRI on Sept. 30.The Kings open the regular season Oct. 23 at Phoenix.___More AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Sacramento Kings coach Dave Joerger wants his team to run more this season and plans to give speedy point guard De'Aaron Fox all the room he needs.Fox was one of the fastest players in the NBA last year as a rookie, but the Kings offense was uneven most of the season and frequently bogged down in the half-court.With an influx of young, quick players added to an already youthful roster, the hope is that Fox can get Sacramento out and running and, possibly, back into the postseason."The best thing you can do for him is play fast and give him as much room as possible," Joerger said Monday at the Kings practice facility during media day. "To play small and try to do that is best for De'Aaron. He's our franchise guy. I think he is and I think everybody kind of agrees on that."The fifth overall pick in 2017, Fox started 60 games and averaged 11.6 points with 4.4 assists, but shot only 41.2 percent while struggling with an inconsistent mid-range jumpshot.The Kings were... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Summer play is a grind for the Miami Heat.They like it that way.Miami is one of eight teams doubling up on summer leagues this year, and when the biggest one in NBA history opens on Friday in Las Vegas — all 30 franchises are sending a club to the primary summer league for the first time — the Heat think that getting three games under their belt already will be a big help.The first summer league hosted by the Sacramento Kings, the California Classic, came to a close Thursday. Golden State beat the Los Angeles Lakers 77-71, and Miami topped Sacramento 86-76.Play in the Utah Jazz Summer League also wrapped up Thursday, with San Antonio beating Memphis 94-87 and Utah beating Atlanta 92-87 in the finale — the memorable moment there being when Jazz guard Grayson Allen and Hawks guard Trae Young scuffled briefly in the third quarter .It was much ado about very little; Allen and Young both earned technical fouls.But it does speak to how seriously the players take the games at... [More]

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Summer play is a grind for the Miami Heat.They like it that way.Miami is one of eight teams doubling up on summer leagues this year, and when the biggest one in NBA history opens on Friday in Las Vegas — all 30 franchises are sending a club to the primary summer league for the first time — the Heat think that getting three games under their belt already will be a big help.The first summer league hosted by the Sacramento Kings, the California Classic, came to a close Thursday. Golden State beat the Los Angeles Lakers 77-71, and Miami topped Sacramento 86-76.Play in the Utah Jazz Summer League also wrapped up Thursday, with San Antonio beating Memphis 94-87 and Utah facing Atlanta in the finale.The Heat flew cross-country for their summer league training camp in Sacramento, doing so because playing in the second league ensures that the team will appear in at least eight summer games instead of the five that are guaranteed to teams who play only in Las Vegas.And they saw players... [More]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Coach Dave Joerger strongly believes Sacramento's commitment to youth this season will pay off down the line in helping develop the Kings into a playoff contender.How soon that happens remains an open question."It can be frustrating because we're a society that wants a quick change and we want it right now," Joerger said after the final game of his second season in Sacramento. "It just takes time together to get that chemistry. We all want it to happen as fast as possible and we're doing everything we can for that."The Kings took a step back in the standings this season, winning five fewer games on the way to a 27-55 record that left them out of the playoffs for the 12th straight season, the longest active drought in the NBA.But with most of Sacramento's key players age 25 or younger, there might be some reason for optimism for a franchise that seems to be in perpetual rebuilding mode."They've seen enough to know how to react now," veteran Vince Carter said. "They... [More]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Coach Dave Joerger strongly believes Sacramento's commitment to youth this season will pay off down the line in helping develop the Kings into a playoff contender.How soon that happens remains an open question."It can be frustrating because we're a society that wants a quick change and we want it right now," Joerger said after the final game of his second season in Sacramento. "It just takes time together to get that chemistry. We all want it to happen as fast as possible and we're doing everything we can for that."The Kings took a step back in the standings this season, winning five fewer games on the way to a 27-55 record that left them out of the playoffs for the 12th straight season, the longest active drought in the NBA.But with most of Sacramento's key players age 25 or younger, there might be some reason for optimism for a franchise that seems to be in perpetual rebuilding mode."They've seen enough to know how to react now," veteran Vince Carter said. "They... [More]