The Sacramento Kings are among the five teams in the Western Conference that will enter the NBA’s Orlando bubble needing to make up some significant ground in eight games if they are to earn a shot at a playoff berth in a play-in series.
Prior to their departure for Orlando, Buddy Hield, Jabari Parker, and Alex Len all announced they had tested positive for COVID-19, with Hield and Parker having recently joined the team at Disney after getting cleared. On Tuesday, we learned that another key player on the Kings was not with the team currently, as Harrison Barnes announced on Twitter that he is in quarantine following a positive test, but hopes to join the team in Orlando once cleared.
— Harrison Barnes (@hbarnes) July 14, 2020
Like Russell Westbrook, who announced he had tested positive and was not with the Rockets on Monday, Barnes’ positive test came prior to his arrival in Orlando and as such he must clear quarantine protocol and two consecutive negative tests before he’s able to head to Disney to join the team. With just over two weeks to go until games begin, Barnes will not have much in the way of a camp to get ready for the season if he is able to get cleared and head to Orlando, but the Kings will hope he can join them for the playoff push as he’s one of four players on the team that appeared in all 64 games this season (starting all 64) and is their third-leading scorer at 14.7 points per game.