The Sacramento Kings plan to hold five players out of Wednesday's regular-season finale against the Houston Rockets, hoping to lose the game in order to give themselves a better chance to keeping their first round draft pick.
According to CSNBayArea's James Ham, the Kings are holding out Omri Casspi (hamstring) and Marco Belinelli (foot) due to injuries, and the trio of DeMarcus Cousins, Rajon Rondo and Darren Collison are missing the game for rest.
Sacramento is currently tied with the New York Knicks for the seventh-worst record in the league, and keeping that record would help them in the postseason.
They owe the Bulls a top-10 protected pick, and finishing with the seventh-worst record would mean they'd have no chance of losing that pick. However, if they somehow make it unlikely trip into the top three in the lottery, their pick will go to the Philadelphia 76ers.
Houston clinches a playoff spot with a win over the Kings, so they'll be more than happy to help the Kings with their plan. The game tips off at 8:00 pm ET on Wednesday night in Houston.
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