De'Andre Hunter becomes third highly paid Kings player to need season-ending surgery

Sean Cunningham of NBC Sacramento confirms the news.

Hunter, Sacramento’s lone acquisition ahead of the trade deadline, suffered an eye injury in his second game as a King. He missed the team’s last three games before the All-Star break due to left eye iritis (inflammation of the iris).

The 28-year-old seemed to be on the verge of returning after the break, as he was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice. However, he missed Thursday’s loss to Orlando — Sacramento’s 15th straight defeat — and now will be out for the team’s final 25 games of the season.

Hunter is the third highly paid member of the Kings who is done for the season, joining Domantas Sabonis (knee surgery) and Zach LaVine (hand surgery). The Kings are just 12-45, the worst record in the NBA.

The fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft, Hunter spent his first five-and-a-half seasons with Atlanta prior to being traded to Cleveland last year. While he played well with the Cavs down the stretch of 2024-25, he struggled with his outside shot this season, and the team sent him to the Kings earlier this month in a three-team deal that saw Cleveland acquire Keon Ellis and Dennis Schröder.

Hunter appeared in 45 games this season, averaging 13.7 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.0 assists in 26.1 minutes per contest. His shooting line was .415/.305/.867.

Hunter, who makes $23.3M this season, is under contract through ’26/27. He will earn $24.9M next season ahead of free agency.

As cap expert Yossi Gozlan observes, the Kings will soon qualify for a hardship exception with Hunter, Sabonis, LaVine and Dylan Cardwell (left ankle sprain) all out for an extended period. They also have a standard roster opening as well as a two-way vacancy after promoting Cardwell.