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Kings' Kevin Huerter to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery after torn labrum

The Kings will now attempt to avoid the Western Conference play-in tournament without Kevin Huerter this spring

Kevin Huerter’s season is done.

The Sacramento Kings guard will undergo season-ending surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder, his agent told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Friday. Huerter is expected to be fully recovered in time for the start of next season.

Huerter went down early in the Kings’ 121-111 overtime win against the Memphis Grizzlies on March 18. While driving to the hoop in the first quarter, Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane came through and fouled him hard on his left arm. Huerter fell to the floor and remained there for some time before leaving the game while holding his left wrist, clearly in significant pain.

Huerter was ruled out of the game with a shoulder injury, and the team confirmed days later that he sustained a dislocated shoulder and labral tear. He was initially ruled out indefinitely, though his season is now over.

Kevin Huerter went down with his shoulder injury earlier this month after taking a hard foul from Desmond Bane. He hasn’t played since.
Kevin Huerter went down with his shoulder injury earlier this month after taking a hard foul from Desmond Bane. He hasn’t played since. (Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Huerter has averaged 10.2 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game this season, his second with the Kings. The 25-year-old, whom the Atlanta Hawks took with the No. 19 overall pick out of Maryland in 2018, is in the second year of a four-year, $65 million deal.

The Kings hold a 42-30 record headed into Friday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks, who beat them 132-96 in Sacramento on Wednesday night. The Kings sit in eighth in the Western Conference standings, but are just one game back from the Mavericks — who are in sixth place and just above the cutoff for the play-in tournament.