Kings coach Luke Walton said two of his players tested positive for COVID-19 before training camp Tuesday began with individual workouts at the team's Golden 1 Center practice facility.
"When we came back before we got back in the facility and we were going through the NBA protocol as far as the safety stuff is concerned, we had a couple positive tests," Walton said. "So before we opened up, those guys were put in quarantine."
Walton said he did not have a full roster as group workouts began Sunday, but he declined to specify which players missed practice and for what reasons.
"I'm not going to just because some of it has to do with Covid and, again, there are so many rules right now that I'm still learning all of them, and I don't want to get my foot stuck in my mouth," Walton said. "So I'm just going to stay away from who missed (practice) for what reasons and everything else, but we're looking forward to getting guys back as they either get healthy or graduate through all the protocols that are out there."
Earlier Sunday, the Portland Trail Blazers closed their practice facility after three members of the organization tested positive for COVID-19. The Kings and Blazers are scheduled to play their preseason opener Friday at Moda Center in Portland.
Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey issued a statement Sunday morning, saying the facility will be closed for deep cleaning after three people in the organization tested positive over the past few days. Teams started conducting daily testing before individual workouts began Tuesday.
"Over the past four days, we have had three positive COVID test results within our organization," Olshey said. "Out of an abundance of caution, having completed contact tracing, we are closing our practice facility today for deep cleaning while we run confirmatory tests"
The Kings are scheduled to play the Blazers in their preseason opener Friday, a game that will be televised by ESPN. The Kings and Blazers are also scheduled to play a second preseason game in Portland two days later.
The NBA will determine whether the preseason games in Portland will be canceled, postponed or played as scheduled. The league had not determined how those games would be impacted as of early Sunday afternoon.
The Kings are scheduled to conclude their four-game preseason schedule with two home games against the Golden State Warriors Dec. 15 and Dec. 17 at Golden 1 Center. They will visit the Denver Nuggets in their season opener Dec. 23.
