SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Sacramento Kings center Maxime Raynaud received some encouraging news from imaging on his injured right knee that showed a patellar subluxation and not anything far more serious that might jeopardize his season before it begins.
The Kings said Sunday their second-year big man would be reevaluated again in about two weeks.
Raynaud underwent an MRI exam late Saturday after going down with 2:32 left in the second quarter of a 111-106
preseason loss to Golden State when he collided with Stephen Curry as he was making a screen on the Warriors star.
“Being around the sport for pretty much my whole life, injuries are just hard, but they’re part of what we do,” Kings coach Doug Christie said after the game. "We care about each other on a deeper level than just teammates and coach and player, as I told him on the floor: ‘I love you, man. We’re here for you. We got you.’ You don’t want to hear that in those moments, but it’s part of what we do. Unfortunately, we put ourselves at risk, but yeah, it’s never a good thing.”
Raynaud was on his back and clearly in pain as medical staff examined him on the floor at Chase Center. He eventually was helped up and moved into a wheelchair to leave the court for the locker room.
Kings general manager Scott Perry was positive afterward, saying, “he'll be back.” Perry escorted the 7-foot-1 Raynaud off the court, and team owner Vivek Ranadive came by to check on Raynaud outside the locker room.
Raynaud later received a goodbye hug from Perry and left the locker room on crutches, an ice bag wrapped around the knee. He was in good spirits and smiling while walking out of Chase Center.
Raynaud had set a screen on Curry — who also went down after the collision — for teammate Darius Acuff and Raynaud immediately screamed and grabbed at his right knee.
He made all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 3-pointer, and three free throws for 10 points to go with five rebounds, an assist and one blocked shot in just less than nine minutes of action.
The Kings selected Raynaud 42nd overall in the second round of last year’s draft, and the 23-year-old from France averaged 12.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.4 assists over 74 games as a rookie.
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