The Kings used a first-round pick on Harry Giles in 2017 and seemed to view him as a franchise cornerstone during his de facto rookie season in 2018-19. However, Sacramento turned down its fourth-year option for 2020-21 on Giles this fall, and the big man has only appeared in seven games so far this season, logging 52 total minutes.
Giles, whose rookie season was wiped out due to knee problems, is healthy now after battling injuries in recent years. Still, he hasn’t seen the court since Nov. 27 and admits to Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee that falling out of the rotation this season has been difficult.
“It’s tough,” Giles said. “I’m a competitor, so it’s hard, but it is what it is. It’s not my decision. All I can do is work hard every day, control what I can control, and stay as ready as I can. What else can I do?”
As Anderson notes, Giles was expected to vie with Richaun Holmes for backup center minutes behind Dewayne Dedmon this season, but the Kings’ frontcourt rotation has been upended as a result of impressive performances from Holmes and Nemanja Bjelica. Neither Dedmon nor Giles has played as of late, though head coach Luke Walton suggests both big men should get another chance at some point.
“He’s going to get an opportunity and it’s his job to be ready and take full advantage of that,” Walton said of Giles. “Right now, we feel like our best group is tightening the rotation and keeping as much shooting and spacing out there as we can. With Marvin [Bagley] coming back, we wanted to get him in that rotation, but we’re playing eight or nine guys right now, so it’s more of a numbers thing. We want to play everyone, but we can’t.”
While the Kings say Giles will get another chance and insist he hasn’t been ruled out as a long-term piece, it seems unlikely at this point that his time in Sacramento will extend beyond this season — especially with Bagley, Holmes, Dedmon,and Bjelica all on multiyear deals. Giles, who will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, will be just 22 years old at that time, so I’d expect another NBA team to roll the dice on his upside if Sacramento doesn’t retain him.
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