Harry Giles Ruled Out for Season by Kings as Rookie Recovers from Knee Injury

The Sacramento Kings have ruled out rookie forward Harry Giles for the season due to his previous knee issues.

James Ham of NBC Sports noted:

"After consulting multiple experts on bilateral knee injuries, the Kings made the early decision to wait a full year from the date of Giles' last ACL surgery before allowing him to see unrestricted court time. That date has passed, but without a conventional training camp, Sacramento has chosen to err on the side of caution and prepare Giles for a healthy offseason program and Las Vegas Summer League appearance."

Ham added that Giles' ACLs are completely healed and that he's been "showing major signs of improvement in agility, strength and athleticism."

"No setbacks," assistant general manager Brandon Williams said, per Jason Jones of the Sacramento Bee. "There's that, but what he's done is he's gotten better."

"We don't have to talk about Harry as injured," Williams added. "There are no red flags."

The 19-year-old Giles was widely heralded during his high school career and was the No. 2 overall prospect in the class of 2016 behind only Josh Jackson, per 247Sports' composite rankings, even though he tore his left ACL in 2013 and his right ACL in 2015.

He played in 26 games at Duke during the 2016-17 season but averaged just 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds as he recovered from his 2015 injury and the long layoff from game action. He became the No. 20 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, and the Kings acquired his rights from the Portland Trail Blazers, adding him to No. 5 pick De'Aaron Fox and No. 15 pick Justin Jackson in their rookie class.

As Ham suggested, the Kings likely planned all along to redshirt Giles for his rookie season, giving them the chance to evaluate his prior injuries and work with the medical staff to establish a training program and rehabilitation regiment to avoid future injuries.