Rookie down. The long list of injured Sacramento Kings players has grown once again. First-year shooting guard Malachi Richardson grabbed his right hamstring with 1:06 remaining in the Kings' loss to the Golden State Warriors Wednesday night and had to be helped to the locker room.
Richardson, 21, underwent an MRI on the injury Thursday at a local Sacramento hospital and the news isn't great. According to the team, Richardson has a partial thickness tear of the right hamstring and will be sidelined four to six weeks.
Taken with the 22nd pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, Richardson has played sparingly for the Kings through 57 games. He's appeared in 16 straight contests, but he's averaging just 3.9 points on 41.2 percent shooting in nine minutes per game.
The injury bug has hit the Kings hard over the last few weeks. Omri Casspi injured his right plantaris tendon on Jan. 17 and is still working his way back into action. Rudy Gay was lost for the season with a ruptured left Achilles on Jan. 18. Garrett Temple torn his right hamstring on Jan. 31 and Ty Lawson has missed the last four games with a strained left adductor muscle.
Casspi, Temple and Lawson are all expected back following the All-Star break, although no firm date has been set for their return.
