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The dog days of summer are ticking by slowly. It has been a quiet couple of weeks, outside of Domantas Sabonis’ youth camp last weekend, but we have a few additional items to go over. 

The season ended early for Kings guard Kevin Huerter when his left shoulder popped out of the socket one minute and 51 seconds into the team’s 121-111 win over the Memphis Grizzlies on March 18. 

Huerter wasn’t having his best season, but his absence was felt over the final 15 games of the season as the Kings struggled to a 7-8 record down the stretch. The loss of Huerter was compounded when Malik Monk went down six games later with a knee sprain.

The Kings announced on Mar. 21 that Huerter had not only dislocated his left shoulder but also tore his labrum. On Apr. 3, the team announced that Dr. Neal ElAttrache at Cedars-Sinai Kerlan-Jobe Institute in Los Angeles had performed successful surgery on the labrum tear. 

On Friday, the team sent out an official update on Huerter’s progress.

There are a couple of interesting pieces to this update. First and foremost, the Kings describe Huerter as a “forward,” not a guard. Huerter started 134 games at shooting guard for Sacramento over the last two years, but at 6-foot-7, he has the potential to move to small forward. It’s possible this was a mistake. Perhaps it is foreshadowing. 

In addition to a possible positional change, Huerter has been “cleared for on-court workouts, shooting drills and a complete strength training program,” but he won’t be re-evaluated until mid-October to see if he can resume “full contact court activity.”

This puts Huerter’s timeline to return to contact at around six and a half months. It also means that he will likely miss all of training camp and possibly all of the preseason schedule as well, which runs from Oct. 9-17. 

Will Huerter return in time for the start of the regular season on Oct. 24 when the Kings host the Minnesota Timberwolves at Golden 1 Center? What does this mean for his place in the starting lineup or even early season rotation?

There are a lot of questions that need answering, but Huerter has time to continue his recovery and prepare for the 2024-25 season.  

Starting 5

Earlier this week, Netflix made it official that Domantas Sabonis will be part of the upcoming series “Starting Five,” alongside LeBron James, Anthony Edwards, Jayson Tatum and Jimmy Butler. 

This production has been rumored for months and it’s possible that some of your friends at The Kings Beat may have been interviewed for the project. Whether or not we make the final cut is up to the director, but it was fun to be part of the process. 

For Sabonis, this could be a tremendous boost for his brand. The veteran center is quietly putting together a Hall of Fame resumé, but he doesn’t have a lot of NBA appeal outside of the small markets he has played in (OKC, Indiana and Sacramento).

This could be the vehicle that allows the rest of the world to get to know Sabonis, including his sense of humor, his value as a teammate and his dedication to his young family.

Positive vibes

In case you missed it, Kyle Tucker from The Athletics wrote an incredible piece on former Kings center Willie Cauley-Stein and his struggles with substance abuse. It’s a tough read, but a story that resonates with plenty of everyday people in today’s society.

Cauley-Stein spent four seasons with the Kings after being drafted with the No. 6 overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft. He played a total of 295 games in Sacramento, including 198 starts.

Now 31, Cauley-Stein appears to be on the right path to recovery. While eccentric, Willie was also thoughtful and pleasant to be around. We wish him well and hope for his continued sobriety.