This injury may have motivated the Sacramento Kings to sign Jae Crowder

On Wednesday, the Sacramento Kings made the signing of veteran forward Jae Crowder official.

In a recent post, we went over all the reasons why Crowder could be beneficial to the Kings. However, Crowder has been a free agent for months now, and the issues we highlighted have been plaguing the Kings all season. So, why did the Kings choose to pull the trigger on this deal right now?

The Trey Lyles injury may have inspired the Kings to sign Jae Crowder

Some would argue that the Kings dropping their fourth straight game on Monday against the Oklahoma City Thunder is what motivated them to make a change. That is a logical assumption. But what if it was the other significant event that took place during that game?

If you aren't familiar with what we are alluding to, in the second quarter of that game, Lyles left the game with what appeared to be a lower body injury. He did not return to the game, which raised questions about what his availability would be moving forward.

On Tuesday, we got that answer, and unfortunately, it was not the one fans of the Kings wanted to hear. Lyles suffered a grade 1 right calf strain and, as a result, will be out for at least the next three or four weeks.

We say "at least three to four weeks" because the report says he will be "re-evaluated" in that time span. Usually, that means that they will need an extra week or two after the re-evaluation before they actually return to the court. So, Lyles will likely be out of the fold for the rest of 2024.

For a team that is already bereft of strong bench play (28th in bench points per game), losing Lyles is a huge blow. On top of that, the Kings – a relatively small team – were counting on Lyles to be their backup stretch five. His absence leaves a significant void in the rotation.

Crowder isn't the same type of player as Lyles, and he also isn't as tall as him (6'6, compared to Lyles' 6'10). But, in theory, he could play a similar role to him off the bench for the Kings.

Crowder hasn't played much small ball center in his career. However, there was a stretch in 2019-20 where he spent 5% of his minutes with the Miami Heat playing center (per Basketball Reference). So, maybe the Kings could look to use him in the same way.

Hopefully, Crowder – who hasn't played basketball since April – doesn't need much time to get back into the swing of things because this devastating news only enhances the Kings' need for him on the court.