The Sacramento Kings open the season with a short injury list that still packs a punch, and the biggest name on it is the one that changes the whole tone of the night. Ben Simmons is out with a right Achilles tendon rupture/tear, and the team already knows he’ll miss the entire year after getting hurt just three days before opening night.
Sacramento will also be without Cardwell and Raynaud, leaving the Kings thin in the frontcourt to start the 2026-27 season. The young center duo is expected to sit for the first couple of weeks, which puts extra pressure on the rest of the rotation from the jump.
The one player worth tracking right up until tipoff is Monk. He didn’t play in the preseason, but he returned to practice this week, so there’s at least a chance he gets cleared in time for Wednesday night. If he goes, that gives Sacramento a much-needed bench jolt.
The Kings’ injury situation is rough, but it’s not the only one affecting this matchup. The Clippers have five players ruled out, including All-Star forward Brandon Ingram, who will have to wait to make his L.A. debut. Yanic Konan Niederhauser is also out after right Lisfranc surgery.
Even with those absences, the Clippers are coming in with some momentum after going 2-1 in three preseason games. Darius Garland led the way there, and Sacramento knows this won’t be an easy opener by any stretch.
Still, this is the kind of game the Kings can circle as a real chance to get moving. After going winless in preseason, they need a clean start, and a road win over a shorthanded divisional opponent would do plenty to calm the noise around a team that had a brutal injury year last season.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. PT in Los Angeles on Wednesday.
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Griffin said he was moving through his usual pregame routine when he went by Steve Ballmer and did not initially register the Clippers owners outstretched hand. The part that stayed with him came later, when his agent told him the organization had wanted a public handshake before tipoff, a detail that made the moment feel less like a sincere reunion and more like a staged bit of optics in a very public divorce. [Read more 🡒]