A Royal Pain
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Sacramento Kings: 3 biggest takeaways from preseason play

By Jonathan Roberts

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 4: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings shoots the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers during a pre-season game on October 4, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 4: De'Aaron Fox #5 of the Sacramento Kings shoots the ball against the Los Angeles Lakers during a pre-season game on October 4, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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SEATTLE, WA – OCTOBER 5: Harry Giles #20 of the Sacramento Kings handles the ball against the Golden State Warriors during a pre-season game on October 5, 2018 at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WA – OCTOBER 5: Harry Giles #20 of the Sacramento Kings handles the ball against the Golden State Warriors during a pre-season game on October 5, 2018 at KeyArena in Seattle, Washington. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images) /

The Sacramento Kings look like they finally hit on a draft pick. That’s not to slight De’Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley III or Frank Mason from above but man did Harry Giles looks fantastic in preseason play.

After missing all of last season recovering from a torn-ACL in college, he was a bit of an unknown. Yes, he was, at one point, the #1 ranked high school prospect in the country and appeared to be a lock for the top-five in the NBA draft but injuries killed that dream, possibly to the Kings benefit.

Sacramento held him out all of last season to get him fully healthy for this year, similar to what the Philadelphia 76ers did with last season’s Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons. Will Giles turn into Ben Simmons? Of course not, they’re not even remotely the same type of player but he could be a contender for RoY and make a big impact for Kings right off the bat.

In his six preseason games, Giles scored 13.3 points per game which would’ve ranked third on the team last season. On top of that, though, he added in 5.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. He also shot just 43.3/66.7/66.7 from the field and that 43.3 percent field goal percentage isn’t ideal for a center.

Per-36 minutes, as was alluded to in the intro, those numbers explode. Giles played just 22.1 minutes per game in the preseason but extrapolate those numbers over 36 minutes and his averages jump to 24.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.7 blocks and a solid 47.4 FG%. Yeah, I think the Kings will take that.

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