Trey Lyles gets closer to return, Kings searching for bench scoring with Kevin Huerter doubtful

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The NBA schedule is always quirky, but this season, it feels even more complicated than most years. After playing the first 25 games of the season over a 46-day period, the Kings are now in the midst of a stretch where they play two total games over 10 days while the Emirates NBA Cup plays out.

A break in the schedule is both a blessing and a curse. The Kings have won three in a row and were starting to build at least a little bit of momentum as they climbed back to .500. But a break allows for a mini training camp and for the team to get one step closer to reinforcements.

The Kings return to the court on Monday with a battle against the Denver Nuggets. This game marks a stretch of 11 straight games in the state of California, including nine home games at Golden 1 Center.

At first glance, this is a golden opportunity to get right and start stacking victories, but that may not be the case. The Kings are just 6-7 at home, compared to 7-6 on the road. For a team with high playoff aspirations, this is an issue that has to be addressed because the schedule only gets more difficult from here.

On the mend 

When practice opened up on Sunday afternoon, Trey Lyles was on the floor shooting hoops. There isn’t an update yet on his availability for this week’s games, but Monday marks the three week point since Lyles suffered a right calf strain in the first half of a 130-109 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 25. 

“He’s getting close, but he’s not playing tomorrow and I don’t even know if he’s playing the game after that,” Mike Brown said following practice. “He’s progressing like anyone would with an injury.”

Lyles’ original prognosis had him being re-evaluated in 3-4 weeks. We are entering that window. 

Before Lyles pulled up lame, he looked like he was starting to turn a corner after a slow start to the season. From Nov. 10-18, Lyles averaged 10.8 points and six rebounds over a six game stretch for the Kings. He shot 44.1 percent from three in those games, which included two starts for an injured Domantas Sabonis.

“It’s about time, he’s been out for about three months,” Malik Monk joked after practice. “It’s about time to see him out here again. It’s good to see him back. Another vet, another man that knows how to play basketball and another hard-nosed man. It’s good to have him back.” 

Lyles brings plenty to the table, including his rebounding and toughness. During his absence, the Kings signed veteran Jae Crowder to the squad to help fill the void, but he’s struggled to earn time in the Kings’ rotation with so many games stacked on top of each other. 

The Kings’ lack of depth off the bench has been a problem throughout the season and it feels like every time one player returns, another checks out due to injury. The team has played with a full squad on very few occasions this season and that trend may continue.

One in, one out

Lyles was front and center following practice, but shooting guard Kevin Huerter was not. Huerter, who missed all of training camp and preseason while recovering from shoulder surgery, banged his left shoulder again in the team’s 111-109 win over the Pelicans on Thursday. 

According to the Kings, Huerter suffered an AC joint sprain and is listed as day-to-day. For Monday’s game against the Nuggets, Huerter is doubtful per the NBA’s injury report.

Huerter moved to the bench back on Nov. 25, the same game that Lyles was injured. He struggled initially, but over his last five games, he is averaging 13.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 24.8 minutes per game. He seems to have found his shooting stroke over the stretch, hitting 50 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from three on 6.8 attempts per game.

“We’ve got to find it, we’ve got to find it by committee,” Brown said. “It may not be one guy. Kevin’s been playing well for us, even when he hasn’t ‘shot the ball well.’ He’s done a lot of little things at his size that have impacted the game the right way.”

Brown was clear that he will mix and match players trying to find the right ingredients. It might be Keon Ellis playing a larger role, or spot minutes for players like Jordan McLaughlin, Colby Jones and Doug McDermott. 

“Preferably, if somebody can step up and grab hold of it, I’ll run with it,” Brown said. “Like I said, a prime example is, I did that with Keon, who is an undrafted second-year player that played a year and a half in the G League and now next thing you know, he’s getting real minutes. So if somebody can find a way to do that, I’m not afraid to go with them, but they’re going to have to do it convincingly.”

Brown’s other option is to play his starters even more minutes and hope that he can survive another grouping of games shorthanded. The current break in the schedule will give the team a few extra days rest for Lyles and Huerter to heal up, but also for the top end of the rotation to catch their breath and get ready for another barrage of games.

It should be noted that rookie Devin Carter is getting closer to a return as well, but he should probably be looked at as a wild card for the team. The 22-year-old out of Providence has missed all summer, training camp, preseason and the first quarter of the season after undergoing shoulder surgery. 

Carter has been at practice for the last few weeks and cleared for shooting and workouts, but he is still not allowed to go full contact. That last step should come in January, which is now just two weeks away. 

Whether Carter can instantly step on the court and be impactful is unknown. He played three seasons of college basketball and is an older prospect, but he has missed a tremendous amount of development time. Anything he can offer for this season would be found money. 

December 15 is here!

The NBA has magical dates scattered throughout the season that teams look forward to. December 15 is one of the first dates that matters, although it usually doesn’t have the same impact as February 6, the league’s trade deadline.

Dec. 15 is the first day that players signed during the offseason can be traded. It’s the unofficial start of the trade season with an additional 85 players becoming eligible to be traded this year.

It doesn’t often start a flurry of deals, but you never know. With the Western Conference being incredibly tight and the 2025 NBA draft considered very good, we could see teams move off of quality players earlier than expected this season. If the last few days are any indication, there could be an arms race this year as teams try to improve their roster.

Sacramento has four players who were signed this summer and not eligible to be traded on Saturday who are no longer restricted in DeMar DeRozan, Jordan McLaughlin, Orlando Robinson and Alex Len. DeRozan is set to make $23.4 million this season, and the other three count as league minimum salaried players at $2.1 million each for this season.

In addition to these four players, Doug McDermott’s league minimum deal becomes guaranteed on Jan. 16 and he can’t be traded until after that date. His contract is only guaranteed at $750,000 for this season. 

Jae Crowder’s contract is fully guaranteed at $2.6 million for this season according to Spotrac.com, although only a little under $1.7 million of that money counts against the salary cap. Crowder can’t be traded until Feb. 27, which is after the trade deadline, so he can’t be traded this season.

If all of this is confusing, don’t worry. Just keep in mind that the Kings now have access to DeRozan’s contract if they choose to make a massive trade. They also have the contracts of McLaughlin, Robinson and Len to use for salary matching purposes.