Inside The Kings

Domantas Sabonis Gives Update on Hamstring Injury Before Kings vs. Jazz

The Sacramento Kings star big man talked about Friday's matchup with the Utah Jazz.
Eric Sperlazza|
Jan 29, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis warms up before a game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Jan 29, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Domantas Sabonis warms up before a game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

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Sacramento Kings

The Sacramento Kings have been absolutely ravaged by injuries to start the season. First, Keegan Murray tore the UCL ligament in his thumb during preseason and will be sidelined for at least the first month of the season. Nique Clifford would go on to injure his hamstring in the first game of the season against the Phoenix Suns and will miss at least a week. 

All of this is on top of Domantas Sabonis, who has been out with a hamstring injury as well. Luckily for Sacramento, Sabonis will be able to suit up against the Utah Jazz on Friday night. 

What Sabonis Changes for Sacramento

Despite Zach LaVine’s excellent preseason and hot start in game one, Domantas Sabonis is still the best player on the Kings. The two-time All-NBA Third Team member does so many things for Sacramento, and many of them don’t show up on the stat sheet. 

However, the part of the game where Domas makes the biggest impact absolutely shows up on the stat sheet and was also the reason why the Suns were able to make a huge comeback on Wednesday night. 

“It was very frustrating,” Sabonis said about missing the season opener. “Especially for the first one, you know, you work all summer, but it’s okay.”

Sabonis has been one of the best rebounders in the NBA for years now, and his presence on the glass makes it much easier for Sacramento to close out defensive possessions.

In Phoenix, the Kings' defense wasn’t terrible, but they allowed 18 offensive rebounds, which was the big difference in the game. It wasn’t a guarantee that Sabonis would be available either, as he was less than affirmative after shootaround this morning. 

“I’m going to go see how it feels. I feel good right now and hopefully everything keeps going in the right direction,” Sabonis said before being upgraded to available for Friday’s game.

Domas’ impact goes well beyond the glass, too. Since he’s arrived in the league, he has been one of the best screeners in the league and consistently leads the league in screen assists year after year. It may not seem like a huge deal, but Sabonis’ work as a screener is what makes Sacramento’s offense go. 

With Drew Eubanks in, it was obvious that LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Dennis Schröder did not have the same space to operate in the pick and roll, and Eubanks also struggled to be a target as a roller. Sabonis hasn’t looked great from deep recently, but he did shoot over 40% from three last season and has the capability of popping and converting from deep. 

“They played great,” Sabonis said about the team while he was out. “They played great. We made shots, we were moving the ball there a little bit in the first half, and then Phoenix got hot and made some adjustments. They started switching, and that’s where I can be a presence to help out the team.”

Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis
Oct 15, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (11) looks to pass the ball ball against Los Angeles Clippers center Ivica Zubac (40) during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

Along with all of this, Sabonis is the best playmaker that Sacramento has on the roster. His ability to pass from the high and low post, score from either spot, and open up shots with dribble handoffs is second to only one or two bigs in the entire league. 

Matt George recently brought up the Sabonis/LaVine partnership on his podcast and how he believes it has a chance to be even more dynamic than De’Aaron Fox and Sabonis were. Friday night will be the first chance for those two to show how good they can be after a full offseason together. 

Where Sabonis Will Need Help

Sabonis led the Kings in rebounding last season, but Keegan Murray was the team's second leading rebounder and will not be available for a while. Murray averaged nearly seven boards a game last season, and that production will still need to be made up despite Sabonis’ return. 

This doesn’t just fall on the bigs either; every member of the Kings will need to box out and secure the ball to make sure the Kings finish out defensive possessions. Eubanks struggled on the boards, filling in for Domas, but LaVine, Schröder, Keon Ellis, and others will need to step up as well, especially with Clifford out. 

“It’s gonna be a lot of work,” Sabonis said about facing the Jazz. “We got out-rebounded by a lot last game. Tonight, they’re actually a really tall team, a physical team. It’s gonna be a collective group effort.”

Another spot that Sabonis will need help with is spacing. If Sacramento struggles behind the line, Sabonis won’t have the space to operate in the post, where he is most impactful as a scorer. 

Last season, Sabonis shot 70% in the restricted area on 475 field goal attempts. He does struggle a bit when dealing with length, and Walker Kessler certainly will be a problem for him. If Sacramento is able to be effective from deep, they can get the Jazz defense in rotation and allow Sabonis to punish smaller defenders on switches. Once Sabonis starts to get doubled, that will open up lanes for LaVine, DeRozan, and others to get to the basket for easy buckets. 

As useful as Sabonis is offensively, he needs help from the rest of the team to be at his best. 

Friday night will be a good test for a Sacramento team that showed a lot of their same issues against the Suns without their star center. The Jazz were projected to be a much worse team than the Kings, but they just ran over the Los Angeles Clippers in game one as all of their young players were firing on all cylinders. 

Friday’s game won’t be a walk in the park as some might’ve expected, but having Sabonis back will give the Kings a much better chance at getting their first home opener win at Golden 1 Center since the COVID-19-impacted season with no fans.

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Eric Sperlazza
ERIC SPERLAZZA

Eric Sperlazza covers the NBA and Sacramento Kings for Sacramento Kings On SI.

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