Eric Moreland Assigned Back To The Reno Bighorns
By Rafe Wong
Eric Moreland this season has been healing a broken foot that he suffered back in December, but now it looks like he is ready to get back to onto the court.
Reported yesterday by NBA.com, it released the news that the Kings have assigned their forward to join the Reno Bighorns in the NBA D-League. (per NBA.com)
When Moreland first joined the Kings last season there was a lot of optimism about his athleticism and ability to block shots, making him a possible rim-protector for the Kings to bank on for future seasons.
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Unfortunately, there have not been many opportunities for Moreland to shine. Obstacles like enduring multiple injuries and playing in front of players like DeMarcus Cousins, Kosta Koufos, and Willie Cauley-Stein have held back Moreland’s developing process so far in his NBA career.
Throughout his almost two seasons in the NBA Moreland has played just 8 games averaging a mere 3.3 minutes in each contest.
You can’t argue about the decision for the Kings to send Moreland to Reno. If Moreland is granted playing time with the Bighorns it is a good way for him to get his foot in the water (pun intended I guess) and make sure that his foot is strong enough to endure the grind of playing professional basketball.
If Moreland is able to play well with Reno, calling him back up with the Kings should be something the front office needs to consider.
Right now the Kings have a record of 26-42 and are 7.5 games back from the final playoff seed in the Western Conference. So basically, the Kings are not going to contend for the postseason.
The Kings have 14 games left on their schedule until the regular season ends, and like I mentioned in a previous article, it is a good time for the team to play their young players significant minutes going forward. Moreland qualifies for this category.
If Moreland can string himself a couple of good games with Reno, there’s a good chance (in my opinion) that he can get called back up to Sacramento and gain some more NBA experience to cap off his sophomore year.
Even a couple games will benefit him going forward and will also give the Kings front office a clearer picture of what Moreland’s destiny will be in Sacramento.