{"id":93672,"date":"2024-08-31T13:26:14","date_gmt":"2024-08-31T17:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=93672"},"modified":"2024-08-31T13:26:14","modified_gmt":"2024-08-31T17:26:14","slug":"kings-potential-starter-kevin-huerter-meaningful-injury-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/31\/kings-potential-starter-kevin-huerter-meaningful-injury-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Potential Kings Starter\u2019s Meaningful Injury Update"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Months after undergoing <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/29\/sacramento-kings-guard-to-miss-rest-of-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a season-ending shoulder surgery<\/a> for a torn labrum, Sacramento Kings wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/huertke01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kevin Huerter<\/a> has taken a significant step in his recovery process, being \u201ccleared for on-court workouts, shooting drills, and a complete strength training program,\u201d per a team report (h\/t The Sacramento Observer\u2019s Mark Haynes). Huerter\u2019s status \u201cwill be re-evaluated in mid-October prior to being cleared for full contact\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Kings forward Kevin Huerter has been cleared for on-court workouts, shooting drills and a complete strength training program. He will be re-evaluated in mid-October prior to being cleared for full contact court activity, per team.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mark Haynes (@markhaynesnba) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/markhaynesnba\/status\/1829641451460051306?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 30, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Kings\u2019 2024-25 season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves is set for Oct. 24.<\/p>\n<h2>Kings\u2019 Kevin Huerter\u2019s Meaningful Injury Update<\/h2>\n<p>The 26-year-old Huerter won\u2019t be able to have a full training camp. He\u2019ll probably miss the entire preseason as well, with the final game on Oct. 17. There\u2019s even a question if he\u2019ll be back on the court in time for the Timberwolves matchup. Still, Huerter doesn\u2019t seem like he\u2019ll miss an extended stretch in the regular season. That bodes well for Sacramento, who may need him even more than they did in 2023-24.<\/p>\n<p>After the Kings managed to win the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/derozde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">DeMar DeRozan<\/a> sweepstakes, it may seem counterintuitive to think Huerter\u2019s a bigger piece of the puzzle than last season. Yet, DeRozan is the very reason why Huerter\u2019s value increased. A player who knows his 3-point shot is the weakest area of his game, DeRozan doesn\u2019t take many. In fact, over the last six seasons, he\u2019s taken 1.5 3-point attempts per game, making just 31.1 percent of them.<\/p>\n<p>In a vacuum, DeRozan\u2019s shooting woes are problematic. However, those <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/29\/nba-insiders-reveal-true-thoughts-demar-derozan-trade\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">issues are compounded<\/a> by the fact Sacramento doesn\u2019t have one reliable 3-point threat projected to start.<\/p>\n<h3>Who Can Sacramento Count On?<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/f\/foxde01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">De\u2019Aaron Fox<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/sabondo01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Domantas Sabonis<\/a> are locks to start as the faces of the Kings\u2019 franchise. Yet, both shoot under 34 percent from 3 for their career. Though they both made over 36 percent of their 3-pointers last season, these are shots that defenses will be willing to concede.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/murrake02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keegan Murray<\/a>, a two-year pro and a career 38.4 percent 3-point shooter. Murray isn\u2019t afraid to launch from deep and he\u2019s been more effective than not when doing so. However, he made just 35.8 percent of his 3s last season after making 41.1 percent of them as a rookie. That type of fluctuation makes it difficult to count on him for now.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Huerter is a career 38.2 percent shooter from 3. Last season, he made a career-low 36.1 percent from 3, and it\u2019s just the second time the six-year veteran has shot below 38 percent from 3. He\u2019s a player who opponent\u2019s scouting reports will focus on running off the line.<\/p>\n<p>When Fox, Sabonis, or DeRozan have the ball and need a release valve, Huerter may be the their best option.<\/p>\n<h3>Keon Ellis To Start?<\/h3>\n<p>Huerter will still have competition at shooting guard. Because of the time he\u2019ll miss, they may even get the first chance to prove they should start.<\/p>\n<p>Sixth man extraordinaire <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/monkma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Malik Monk<\/a> may be too much of an on-ball scorer to mesh well with the Kings\u2019 Big 3 in the first unit. Nonetheless, he\u2019s a clutch scorer who <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/26\/kings-domantas-sabonis-dissects-malik-monk-demar-derozan-moves\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">has plenty of chemistry<\/a> with Fox and Sabonis. Soon-to-be third-year guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/e\/elliske01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Keon Ellis<\/a> is a sensational 3-and-D player. Yet, though he\u2019s a career 42.2 percent shooter, it\u2019s been on 2.5 attempts per game.<\/p>\n<p>Of the two, Ellis is a more fitting option for the starting lineup. If he can remain efficient while taking a higher volume of 3s, he can play off of Sacramento\u2019s stars. Furthermore, his point-of-attack defense is superb. With DeRozan known as a so-so defender, Ellis\u2019s ball pressure could really help give him the nod over Huerter and Monk.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Months after undergoing a season-ending shoulder surgery for a torn labrum, Sacramento Kings wing Kevin Huerter has taken a significant step in his recovery process, being \u201ccleared for on-court workouts, shooting drills, and a complete strength training program,\u201d per a team report (h\/t The Sacramento Observer\u2019s Mark Haynes). Huerter\u2019s status \u201cwill be re-evaluated in mid-October [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":93743,"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":[664,350,1102,4606,4624,1600,700,4745],"class_list":["post-93672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kings","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-deaaron-fox","tag-demar-derozan","tag-domantas-sabonis","tag-keegan-murray","tag-keon-ellis","tag-kevin-huerter","tag-malik-monk","tag-nba-injuries"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93672","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=93672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93743"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}