According to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Sacramento Kings guard Kevin Huerter plans to undergo season-ending left shoulder surgery.
Huerter has a dislocated left shoulder and a labral tear. The Maryland product is expected to make a full recovery for the start of the 2024-25 season.
Huerter has appeared in 64 games this season. He’s averaging 10.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists while shooting 44.3% from the field, 36.1% from beyond the arc and 76.6% from the free-throw line.
The Kings were 11-4 in games that Huerter scored 15-plus points, according to ESPN Stats & Information.
Huerter is in his second season with the Kings. He was traded by the Atlanta Hawks to Sacramento in July 2022.
Huerter has career NBA averages of 11.9 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists with the Hawks and Kings. He was the 19th overall pick in the 2018 draft.
The Kings are 42-30 on the season. They are in eighth place in the Western Conference standings.
If the regular season ended today, Sacramento would face the Phoenix Suns in the 7-8 play-in tournament game in Phoenix.
The Kings lost to the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the 2023 playoffs in seven games. It will be fascinating to see how far Sacramento goes in this year’s postseason if the team makes it.
After Domantas Sabonis recorded his 54th straight double-double, the longest streak in NBA history, Kings head coach Mike Brown said the big man should be in MVP talks. Sabonis leads the NBA in rebounds, rebounds per game, defensive rebounds, double-doubles and triple-doubles.
“Shout out to Domas. What a job,” Brown said, via ESPN. “What a phenomenal, phenomenal year he’s having. Obviously, he should have been an All-Star. Obviously, he should be talked about for first, second, third All-NBA. And he should be in the MVP discussions with the way that he’s playing.”
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