Kings' Kevin Huerter Sounds Off on Handling Season's Struggles
It's been a roller coaster season so far for the Sacramento Kings, but it reigns especially true for starting shooting guard Kevin Huerter. After exploding onto the scene in his first year with the franchise, his second time around in purple has been plagued by some disappointment.
Both the numbers and minutes have dipped from what we've previously seen from him, which can ultimately lead to some frustrations like it would for any player. During Friday's practice, Huerter spoke with the press about how he's handled his up-and-down second season with Sacramento, displaying some optimism for the games ahead:
"I still think I'm working on it. There's different things I don't think I handled well earlier in the season, some of those downs and figuring out ways to come out of those quickly. I just think it goes with trying to control what I can control and not getting so caught up in factors that I can't. Continue to just focus on me, and when I'm on the court, being the best version that I can be of myself and how I can help this team win at a high level because I know I've helped this team win at a high level. Just continue to try to do that. Positive mental mindset. Continue to put my work in every day. We got 82 of these things. We're going to go through a lot of them, and there's going to be a lot of ups and downs throughout the season.
Huerter has seen a bit of a decline in his counting stats this season from what we saw in 2022-23. In his 62 games, he's averaged 10.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists on 44.5/36.3/76.6 shooting splits. He's mostly maintained his spot as a nightly starter for this team, but his efficiency slumps have effectively limited the Kings' firepower a bit offensively.
While the Kings have remained a top-ten offensive team this year, it doesn't stack up with the number-one offensive rating they produced a season ago. It's not all on the shoulders of Huerter, but the team needs to regain that explosiveness to be a true threat in the Western Conference.
With less than twenty games to go in the regular season, Huerter still has some time to get back on track before it comes time for the playoffs. However, the entire roster will need to be at its absolute best to make more noise than we saw last go around. If not, another disappointing first-round exit could inevitably be on the horizon.
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