SACRAMENTO -- It’s not hard to find high school mixtapes of Harry Giles III. He’s the guy listed under “#1 Rated” or “Best NBA Prospect in High School Basketball” in videos from 2015 and 2016.
The story is well known at this point. Giles, a star at the prep level, tore his ACL in both knees during two separate incidents, causing him to miss two full seasons of hoops before he ever stepped onto an NCAA court.
In his lone season at Duke, Giles required another procedure to clean out his left knee, and that limited him to just 300 minutes as a freshman. By this time, the red flags were out and his stock plummeted.
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NBA teams don’t often gamble on a 19-year-old kid who’s gone under the knife three times, but Giles is special. With the risk minimized, the Kings scooped up the talented big man with the 20th overall selection in the 2017 NBA Draft.
"You have your time with doubt, when you’re going through it, ‘Man, I’m not going to make it, I might not get there,' " Giles said about his journey. "But I was young and I knew with time and just hard work, that I could get anywhere I wanted to be. It took time. I had my days of doubt about how good I could be again."
The Kings did right by Giles. They placed him in the hands of their training staff, including Pete Youngman and Manny Romero, who no longer are with the team. The group formulated a plan not only to build strength in Giles’ legs but to strengthen his overall core and prepare him for the rigors of 82 games per season.
Giles sat out his rookie campaign per the medical staff. The Kings kept Giles' development behind the scenes, but murmurs of his progress quietly seeped out of the franchise.
NBA
After not playing a minute of real basketball, Giles made his debut at the 2018 California Classic followed by Las Vegas Summer League. The first signs that he was ready came early in the exhibition season when the staff allowed him to go in back-to-back games without minute limitations.
During the preseason, Giles posted 13.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.3 assists in 22.1 minutes per game. He struggled with foul trouble in a few games, but it won’t take him long to learn the nuances of the NBA.
After sitting out most of his senior year in high school, playing just 300 minutes at Duke and redshirting last season, Giles is ready to contribute from the jump. He’s in Kings coach Dave Joerger’s rotation coming into the season and is anxious to prove that he's back to the player that made him one of the country's top prep athletes.
“I think the sky's the limit,” Giles said of his potential. “I’m saying that in the most humble way possible, because I believe in myself and I’ve seen what I’ve come back from multiple times. I know it’s for a reason. So I have to go out there and show what I’m here to do.”
It’s one of the better storylines coming into the season. Giles has a huge personality and a million-dollar smile. He's the type of player who might be able to change the direction of a franchise if he can stay healthy.
He's also wise beyond his years. Giles is glad that people are excited to see him finally take the floor in a real game, but he has a message for the crowd as well.
“I think you just have to be patient with us,” Giles said. “Our concern is people are going to expect us to be great in one day or one week. That’s not what it is. No team becomes great in a week. The NBA champions, they didn’t become good in a year or two. It took time.”
Giles already is a fan favorite. With any luck, he’ll build on his preseason success and have a big rookie campaign.
The injury worries always will be there, but Giles has done everything in his power to get on the floor, and he’s ready to prove he belongs.