A Royal Pain
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Kings: The Giles Decision Is Worse Than The Doncic One

By Anthony Cardenas

SACRAMENTO, CA - JANUARY 6: Harry Giles III #20 of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the Golden State Warriors on January 6, 2020 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, 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 Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CA - JANUARY 6: Harry Giles III #20 of the Sacramento Kings looks on during the game against the Golden State Warriors on January 6, 2020 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, 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 Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Sacramento Kings made a questionable decision regarding Harry Giles’ contract. It could be even more questionable than passing on Luka Doncic.

The current front office for the Sacramento Kings has made plenty of questionable choices over the past few years, but there might not be a more questionable decision than the one they made on October 31st, 2019.

The Kings actually made four decisions that day, all of which had to do with extending rookie contract options. They all seemed like no-brainers: extend De’Aaron Fox, Marvin Bagley, and Harry Giles, and decline Caleb Swanigan. Sacramento went 3 for 4, and that miss looks like it is going to hurt.

In a move that seemed dumb at the time and has only gotten worse, the Kings opted to decline the contract option on Giles, making him a free agent this coming off season. Due to the rules of the current CBA, the maximum that Sacramento can now offer Giles this off season is $3.9 million.

While there was no direct reason given from the team, the decision was not a total surprise for the fan base. Giles had yet to appear in any of the Kings first four games up to that point, and had missed the entire preseason with what the team was calling knee soreness. Maybe the team knew something we didn’t about Giles’ medical report and didn’t see his oft-injured knees making it past this season?

Kings 2010s All-Decade Team. light. Trending

Giles sure has made the Kings look silly so far. Due to injuries across the front line for Sacramento, Giles went from getting 15 DNPs in a row to becoming a part of the regular rotation, and eventually became the starting center. Finally given the first real minutes of his career, he has been able to build in-game cohesion with his teammates and find a personal rhythm that has worked for him.

Since Giles was re-integrated back in to the rotation at the end of December, he has been impressive with his hustle and intensity while not exactly filling out the stat sheet. That has changed over the last few contests. The hustle is still present, but now Giles has become a legit scoring option and is beasting on the boards. His last 3 stat lines:

As the Kings enter the last full month of the regular season, the off season decisions that they’ll have to make begin to loom larger and larger, especially if they drop out of the playoff race. And now with Giles beginning to impress on a nightly basis, the noise regarding his contract situation and the disdain for Sacramento’s front office will only grow.

So just how bad is the decision to decline Harry Giles’ option? It is worse than the decision to draft Marvin Bagley over Luka Doncic. Here’s why…

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