West Notes: Kings, De’Aaron Fox, Nuggets, Julian Strawther, Grizzlies

Kings

Once again, the Kings will be without leading scorer De’Aaron Fox for their game Wednesday vs. the Trail Blazers, as relayed by Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee.

Sacramento has lost three straight and has not looked like the same team since Fox went down with a right ankle sprain.

• Along with that, the Kings again will be minus power forward Trey Lyles, who has yet to play after suffering a left calf strain in the preseason.
• We have more on the Kings in our West notebook, as well as all the time on our Kings page.

Nuggets

Rookie small forward Julian Strawther made the most of his minutes after the injury to Jamal Murray, with Strawther scoring 21 points in the Nuggets’ comeback win over the Pelicans.

“Obviously you know that there are minutes up for grabs, but you don’t know where they’re gonna go,” Strawther said, via Bennett Durando of the Denver Post. “That was not something that was communicated to me pregame.”

Strawther, 21, is 6-foot-7 and was drafted by the Nuggets out of Gonzaga with the No. 29 overall pick. He’s averaging 6.8 points through the first six games.

He described his role as coming into the game and providing “a spark.” He did that to perfection on Monday.

“Surreal moment for sure. When you get drafted to the Nuggets, you don’t know what things are gonna look like for you in your rookie year,” he said. “But those are the moments you envision in your head. You’re always gonna have yourself doing something spectacular, crowd going crazy. That’s what you want.”

Grizzlies

Rookie forward/center GG Jackson is looking to get some reps with the Grizzlies while also playing for the Memphis Hustle of the G League, as reported by Damichael Cole of the Commercial Appeal.

“I told myself even before I got drafted, I’m a long-term investment in a way,” Jackson said, via Cole. “I feel like I’m a pretty good basketball player. If I get the opportunity, I can show what I can do.”

Given the injury situation, particularly in the frontcourt, Memphis is likely hoping for a quick rise from Jackson — a second-round pick who is still just 18 years old.