Sacramento Kings DVOA, Stats, & NBA Rankings

Sacramento Kings guard/forward Malik Monk (ankle) will not return to the lineup for Sunday's battle against Brooklyn. There was hope of him potentially being ready to make his comeback when Monk was upgraded twice throughout the day, reaching a questionable status, but he has now been ruled out. The savvy scorer will miss a seventh consecutive game. Keon Ellis has filled a larger role in the rotation during Monk's absence, but he has been very inconsistent and is not a good fantasy option.

Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (back) is expected to suit up for Friday's game against the Los Angeles Clippers. Sabonis was able to get through a full practice session on Thursday for the second day in a row. He has missed each of the last two games due to lower back tightness, but he's trending in the right direction now. The Kings are likely going to wait until closer to tip-off before making a final decision on Sabonis. If active, Trey Lyles should see a reduced role in the rotation after playing over 30 minutes in each of the last three games.

Sacramento Kings guard Malik Monk (ankle) was able to get through the non-contact portions of practice on Thursday. Head coach Mike Brown expects Monk to sit out during Friday's game, but it looks like Monk is making progress. The 26-year-old has missed each of the last five games due to a right ankle sprain. Keon Ellis played 33 minutes on Monday and scored 33 points with six rebounds. He figures to continue seeing increased playing time until Monk returns. However, fantasy managers shouldn't expect Ellis to continue producing like that as his 33-point performance was more of a fluke than anything else.

According to NBA Insider Chris Haynes, Sacramento Kings forwardDeMar DeRozan(back)intends to make his return on Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers. The 35-year-old is dealing with a back injury and has missed three consecutive contests. If DeRozan is sidelined again on Friday, Trey Lyles, Keegan Murray, and Kevin Huerter will likely see more minutes on the floor than usual.

Sacramento Kings center Domantas Sabonis (back) has been ruled out for Monday night's game against the Atlanta Hawks. Sabonis had been listed as doubtful so him missing Monday's game is not a surprise. He also missed Saturday's game against the Utah Jazz with lower back tightness. The team announced today that the 28-year-old has made "significant improvement" on his back injury and was cleared for on-court workouts, a positive sign for the Kings. In his absence, expect Trey Lyles and Doug McDermott to get more opportunities for the injury-riddled Kings. Neither has been a viable fantasy option this season. However, DFS managers may want to consider both as longshots against the Atlanta Hawks. Both can shoot the ball well from three and Atlanta gives up the most three-point attempts per game.