The NBA opt-out tracker is still buzzing along. On Tuesday, a pair of players decided not to participate in the league’s Orlando bubble reboot, which certainly will impact the Kings’ chances of snapping their playoffs streak.
The Brooklyn Nets lost a fifth player when Spencer Dinwiddie announced that he will not participate due to another positive coronavirus test.
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SIGN UP HERE Dinwiddie, who averages 20.6 points and 6.8 assists per game for the Nets, joins Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, who are both injured, as well as DeAndre Jordan and Wilson Chandler, all of whom will not compete.
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Sacramento faces off the with the Nets on Aug. 7 for a 3 p.m. PT tipoff. The game is the lone back-to-back on the Kings’ restart schedule. They’ll face the New Orleans Pelicans the day before.
In addition to Dinwiddie, Bradley Beal also chose to step aside and miss the Orlando Bubble due to a shoulder injury.
"This was a difficult decision and one that I did not take lightly as the leader of this team,” Beal said in an official release. “I wanted to help my teammates compete for a playoff spot in Orlando, but also understand that this will be best for all of us in the long term."
While the Kings don’t play the Wizards in the restart, the Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns do. In addition to Beal, backcourt mate John Wall, who still is recovering from an Achilles tear, and Davis Bertans, who chose not to attend due to his impending free agency, are out for the Wizards as well.
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With the pool of teams set at just 22, most of the players that have chosen not to participate, for whatever reason, will have an impact on the final standings.
In addition to missing the five Nets players, the Kings also will not face Willie Cauley-Stein (Mavericks), Avery Bradley (Lakers) and Thabo Sefalosha (Rockets). Los Angeles replaced Bradley with J.R. Smith and Luc Mbah a Moute signed with Houston with Sefalosha missing the festivities.