Kevin Huerter of the Sacramento Kings is probably done for the season after receiving a dire injury diagnosis.
Following a left shoulder injury sustained during Monday’s victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, Kings guard Kevin Huerter is expected to miss the remainder of the year. Before Thursday’s game against the Washington Wizards, the Kings gave an update on Huerter’s injury, and the 25-year-old shooting guard’s prognosis was not favorable.
According to the team, imaging tests revealed Huerter had a ruptured labrum and a dislocated left shoulder. Options for treatment are still being assessed. The Sacramento Bee was informed by a league source that Huerter will choose a treatment plan that may involve surgery.
There are just 23 days left in the regular season, therefore there is no schedule for his comeback. In Huerter’s absence, Keon Ellis will continue to start, according to Kings coach Mike Brown. Ellis is starting for Sacramento, which is 7-0, but the Kings, who are attempting to win a Western Conference playoff berth, will miss Huerter’s shooting and floor spacing.
The Kings (40-28) faced the Wizards on Thursday, and they were sixth in the West going into the game. With 14 games left, they were a half-game ahead of the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks. Huerter was hurt after he was fouled by Desmond Bane during the first quarter of the Grizzlies’ overtime victory on Monday.
As Huerter attempted a layup, Bane smacked his left arm instead of swiping the ball. Huerter collapsed behind the basket and lay there for a few minutes as the team’s medical personnel attended to him. After receiving assistance getting to his feet, Huerter was shown to the locker room for additional assessment and care. Later on, the team declared he would not be playing again. According to a 2020 National Library of Medicine study, NBA players who had a dislocated shoulder recovered in an average of 7.6 weeks.
Star player Julius Randle of the New York Knicks is getting closer to making a comeback after missing nearly eight weeks due to a dislocated right shoulder. The average recovery period for athletes who had surgery to correct instability in their shoulders was 19 weeks. The Grizzlies’ Ja Morant suffered a torn labrum in January, which required surgery to end the season. Huerter would have to recuperate for eight weeks before making a comeback on May 13. May 6-7 is when the conference semifinals will start, and May 21–22 is when the conference finals will take place.
In the 2018 NBA draft, Huerter was selected with the 19th overall pick, out of Maryland. Before moving to Sacramento in July 2022 as part of a trade that sent Maurice Harkless, Justin Holiday, and a first-round draft pick to Atlanta, he played his first four seasons with the Atlanta Hawks. On October 19, 2022, Huerter made his Kings debut against the Portland Trail Blazers, scoring 23 points. During the previous season, he shot 48.5% from the field and 40.2% from 3-point range, averaging 15.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. With 16 straight losing seasons under his belt, he helped the Kings snap the longest postseason drought in NBA history.
Sacramento’s success was largely due to Huerter’s 3-point shooting as the Kings dominated the league, averaging a league-high 120.7 points per game and owning the greatest offensive rating in NBA history. With many highs and lows, this season has been more difficult than previous ones. Since the beginning of training camp, Huerter has faced challenges from Kings coach Mike Brown to improve as a defender. Huerter has occasionally played better defense than offense, but his consistency has been extreme. Huerter now only scores 10.2 points per game on average. His field goal and three-point percentages have decreased to 44.3% and 36.1%, respectively.
In November, he shot 39.6% from beyond the arc; in December, 31.6%; in January, 39%; in February, 39.4%; and in March, 25%. For five games in late December and early January, Brown benched Huerter. Ten days later, Huerter was back in the starting lineup, although his performance remained inconsistent. In a Jan. 9 victory over the Detroit Pistons, he was limited to four points on 2-of-11 shooting; in a Jan. 18 defeat to the Indiana Pacers, he scored a career-high 31 points on 7 of 12 3-point attempts.
Huerter said to The Bee that he had experienced a “roller coaster” this season. Undoubtedly exhilarating, Huerter remarked. “I guess my main goal has been to find consistency over the entire year. Many highs and lows, and I believe it’s really just a matter of continuing to discover who I am and how I can best contribute to this team’s success.”
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