Kevin Huerter’s confidence and Keon Ellis’ role early focal points for Sacramento Kings
The body language said it all when Kings guard Kevin Huerter knocked down his first 3-pointer of the season in Saturday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Huerter breathed a visible sigh of relief, sensing a breakthrough moment in the long road to recovery seven months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder.
“Yeah, it felt good to get the first one,” Huerter said. “It always does. That long of a layoff, you just need to see it go in, so it felt good to get that.”
Huerter built on that moment with another encouraging performance in Monday’s 111-98 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. He had 18 points, four assists and three blocked shots, going 7 of 12 from the field and 4 of 9 from 3-point range, to help the Kings win their first game of the season.
“It feels good,” Huerter said. “It feels better to get our first win.”
Huerter’s return to the starting lineup and Keon Ellis’ role have become early focal points for the Kings as coach Mike Brown tries to find a winning formula after missing the playoffs last season.
Ellis, a defensive-minded guard who emerged as a starter following Huerter’s injury last season, did not play in Saturday’s 131-127 loss to the Lakers. At one point, assistant coach Doug Christie put his arm around Ellis, who could only watch from the bench as the Lakers staged a 21-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter.
Brown explained his decision to sit Ellis prior to Monday’s game against the Blazers.
“Part of it, if you guys remember, he started starting because Kevin got hurt, so he was not technically a starter last year,” Brown said. “Kevin, with him being healthy, got the spot back, and he’s got to fight to hold onto it.”
Ellis helped the Kings post one of the best defensive ratings in the NBA in March and April after stepping into the starting lineup last season.
Asked if Ellis is out of the rotation for now or if he will play in certain situations based on matchups, Brown said: “It’s just about a minutes crunch more than anything else, and second it’s a situation thing.”
After all that, Ellis was one of the first players off the bench against the Blazers, giving the Kings a long, athletic guard to defend the likes of Anfernee Simons and Scoot Henderson. Ellis finished with three points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 14 minutes.
Brown said he is going with an eight-man rotation with a chance for one or two other players to receive spot minutes.
“When you think about the rotation, there’s only so many minutes,” Brown said. “If I don’t play Alex (Len), we’re going to really, really small. If I don’t play Trey (Lyles), we’re going to be really, really small. I’m going to play Malik (Monk) off the bench. Right there, that’s eight, and then I probably can play one more guy. If I’m lucky, I might be able to play another one.”
Huerter underwent surgery last season after suffering a dislocated left shoulder and torn labrum in a March 18 game against the Memphis Grizzlies. The injury caused him to miss the last 15 games of the regular season, two play-in games and much of the summer.
Huerter said he had to wait 10 weeks after surgery to start shooting from five feet and two more weeks before he could extend his range to 15 feet.
“I had a capacity every day,” Huerter said. “It was basically until I felt like my shot was changing because my shoulder was sore or I was tired, then I would stop shooting for the day. I think when I really got back to fully moving and shooting and all that, it was about 12 or 14 weeks.”
Huerter missed training camp and the preseason during the final stages of his recovery. Brown immediately put Huerter back in the starting lineup when he was cleared to play in the season opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Huerter was held to two points in a 117-115 loss to Minnesota, going 1 of 4 from the field and 0 of 3 from 3-point range. He started to find his rhythm in the loss to the Lakers, scoring 14 points while hitting 5 of 9 from the field and 4 of 7 from beyond the arc after going 0 of 2 from beyond the arc to start the game.
Huerter said it’s good to be back.
“We’re basketball players — we play the game,” Huerter said. “To not be able to do that for six, seven months, it was a long summer, a lot of individual sessions, a lot of time spent in the weight room. It was my first time doing something like that, so that definitely takes the joy out of it a little bit. The joy is playing the game.”
This story was originally published October 28, 2024 at 7:10 PM.
