{"id":100756,"date":"2024-10-12T01:22:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-12T05:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=100756"},"modified":"2024-10-12T01:22:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-12T05:22:50","slug":"kings-update-kevin-huerter-injury-status-midway-preseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/12\/kings-update-kevin-huerter-injury-status-midway-preseason\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings Update Archer\u2019s Injury Status Midway Through Preseason"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Sacramento Kings haven\u2019t had the opportunity to test out their preferred rotation this preseason, as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/nba\/team\/injuries\/_\/name\/sac\/sacramento-kings\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">several players are out<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/monkma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malik Monk<\/a>, one of the league\u2019s better sixth men, has been dealing with personal matters. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cartede02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Devin Carter<\/a>, a popular prospect ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft, has been injured since Sacramento drafted him. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/huertke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Huerter<\/a>, one of the King\u2019s archers, has been sidelined by an injury as well.<\/p>\n<h2>Kings Update Archer Kevin Huerter\u2019s Injury Status Midway Through Preseason<\/h2>\n<p>At least one of the Kings\u2019 soldiers will be back sooner rather than later, as the team has announced Huerter has been cleared for full contact (h\/t Jason Anderson of The Sacramento Bee).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Sacramento Kings guard Kevin Huerter has been cleared for full-contact activity. <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JP0MCJ66ay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JP0MCJ66ay<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jason Anderson (@JandersonSacBee) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JandersonSacBee\/status\/1844895317126414674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 12, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Huerter has been out since <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/29\/sacramento-kings-guard-to-miss-rest-of-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">tearing his shoulder<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n<h3>Will He Start This Season?<\/h3>\n<p>This preseason, the Kings have been testing out 3-and-D wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/elliske01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keon Ellis<\/a> in the starting unit, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/10\/07\/kings-mike-brown-hints-fifth-starter-in-star-studded-lineup\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">hoping that his low usage rate<\/a> helps him click with their Big 3 of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/foxde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sabondo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Domantas Sabonis<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/derozde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeMar DeRozan<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, Ellis isn\u2019t guaranteed to man the first unit, with Huerter his direct competition. Acquired by the Kings in the 2022 offseason, Huerter has started in 141 of the 146 games he\u2019s played for Sacramento, playoffs included. His familiarity with the team\u2019s top players and Kings head coach Mike Brown\u2019s system is significant. So too is Huerter\u2019s skillset, particularly his ability to dial it up from downtown.<\/p>\n<p>In the two seasons he\u2019s played with the Kings, he\u2019s averaged 12.9 points per game on 38.5 percent shooting from three in the regular season.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/youtu.be\/Xa3qrQeuawo?si=lD-ftAr84DfFP9LR<\/p>\n<p>However, he averaged just 9.1 points per game on 20.5 percent shooting in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. He then shot a career-low 36.1 percent from three-point range in 2023-24, making just 32.1 percent of his long-range attempts after the All-Star Break. His struggles coincided with Sacramento\u2019s, as he made 39.0 percent of his threes in the team\u2019s wins but 31.9 percent of those attempts in their losses.<\/p>\n<p>To make matters worse, his season ended prematurely due to his shoulder injury.<\/p>\n<p>All of this culminated in the Kings reportedly making him (and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/barneha02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Harrison Barnes<\/a>) available in trade talks this offseason. Whether the target was Utah Jazz forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/markkla01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Lauri Markkanen<\/a>, Washington Wizards forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kuzmaky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyle Kuzma<\/a>, or Chicago Bulls wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/l\/lavinza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach LaVine<\/a>, Huerter was mentioned as a being part of the potential trade package.<\/p>\n<h3>You\u2019re Saying There\u2019s A Chance?<\/h3>\n<p>To be frank, a front office\u2019s vision doesn\u2019t necessarily have a bearing on the head coach\u2019s. Even if Huerter\u2019s expendable, Brown could value what he brings to the table more than the alternative. That\u2019s why, although Ellis is getting the first shot to prove himself, it doesn\u2019t mean Huerter doesn\u2019t have one.<\/p>\n<p>With that being said, Ellis\u2019s fit \u2014on film or on paper \u2014can\u2019t be denied. He hasn\u2019t built up a large enough body of work to have a relatively unshakeable confidence in his performance. Nonetheless, he looks the part and if it\u2019s not broke, there\u2019s nothing to fix.<\/p>\n<p>Huerter could start, bringing his shooting, playmaking, length, and confidence to the first unit. He could also add firepower to the bench, \u00a0giving the Kings an elite bench unit. That\u2019s more of a luxury than necessity for contending teams. However, with Sacramento\u2019s bench getting outscored by 4.1 points per game last season, it\u2019s an area that they can improve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Sacramento Kings haven\u2019t had the opportunity to test out their preferred rotation this preseason, as several players are out. Malik Monk, one of the league\u2019s better sixth men, has been dealing with personal matters. Devin Carter, a popular prospect ahead of the 2024 NBA Draft, has been injured since Sacramento drafted him. Kevin Huerter, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":100761,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1608,62,3],"tags":[4624,1600,4745,48967],"class_list":["post-100756","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kings","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-keon-ellis","tag-kevin-huerter","tag-nba-injuries","tag-nba-preseason"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100756","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100756"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100756\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100761"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100756"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100756"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100756"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}