How the hiatus affects all 30 NBA teams

Sacramento Kings: Distracting from the recent surge and an awkward situation

On the one hand, this hiatus puts an unfortunate dent in the Sacramento Kings‘ recent surge. After most people wrote them off a few months into the season, the Kings hoisted themselves back into the playoff discussion by winning 10 of their last 15 games.

Unfortunately, all that propulsion is going to have to be put on hold for the time being, giving the Grizzlies the upper hand as they get key players healthy. It’d be nice to see Marvin Bagley III back on the court, but aside from that, there’s an uncomfortable situation that, luckily for the Kings, people will put on the back burner by the time the NBA resumes.

That awkwardness stems from head coach Luke Walton‘s use — or lack thereof — of Buddy Hield in late-game situations, and Kings fans’ vocal displeasure about it. Hield himself hasn’t been a fan of how he’s being used, and after signing that contract extension over the summer, this probably wasn’t the role he envisioned. A few months off should allow cooler heads to prevail, or at the very least, get Walton out of the crosshairs of quite a few embittered Kings fans.