However faint, the Kings will get a chance to end their 13-year playoff drought.
The NBA's Board of Governors approved commissioner Adam Silver's return-to-play plan Thursday, and 22 teams will participate in the resumption of the season at Disney World in Orlando, Fla.
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The Kings, who were 3.5 games out of the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, will be part of the play-in phase for the final playoff spot.
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When the NBA season was paused due to the coronavirus pandemic on March 12, the Kings had a 28-36 record. They were in a tight race with the Memphis Grizzlies, Portland Trail Blazers, New Orleans Pelicans and San Antonio Spurs for the No. 8 seed.
Coming off a 39-43 season, the Kings had high expectations this year, but under new head coach Luke Walton, they never got rolling.
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After a trip to India for two preseason games, the Kings started off the regular season with five straight losses. Injuries to De'Aaron Fox and Marvin Bagley hurt the development of the team.
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But the Kings started to figure things out in late January. Over their last 20 games, they were 13-7. Walton made a change to the starting lineup, inserting Bogdan Bogdanovic and putting Buddy Hield on the second unit. That move seemed to give the Kings a spark.
In a recent interview with Bleacher Report's Howard Beck, forward Harrison Barnes said the Kings just want a chance to see where they are at now that they are healthy.
With the NBA's announcement, Barnes and the Kings will get that chance.