Kings Injury Woes Mount; De'Andre Hunter Out for Season

In what feels like a scheduled event over the last few days, the Sacramento Kings have lost another key rotation player for the season.

According to Chris Haynes, De’Andre Hunter will miss the rest of the season as he undergoes eye surgery to repair the injury he sustained in his second game with the Kings following the January 31 trade that saw Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis head to Cleveland.

BREAKING: Sacramento Kings forward De’Andre Hunter will undergo season-ending eye surgery, league sources tell @TheSteinLine and me.

📸: @SacramentoKings pic.twitter.com/IAvaPRALoz
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 20, 2026

Before anyone attempts to scream tanking maneuver here, the injury is plenty legitimate. Hunter was bleeding out of his eye when it happened. Last time I checked, eyes are important. Hunter should absolutely get whatever procedures are needed to get himself completely recovered.

Feb 6, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings head coach Doug Christie checks on forward De'andre Hunter (15) after suffering an injury during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Clippers at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images | Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

This is obviously an unfortunate development for a team that has already lost Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine for the season (Sacramento is now without three of their four highest-paid players for those keeping track), and Dylan Cardwell for at least a month, just this week.

Sacramento’s incredibly tough injury luck began before the regular season even started, with Keegan Murray injuring his thumb during the preseason, then missing considerable time as he recovered from surgery. Murray and Sabonis - two of Sacramento’s centerpieces heading into this season - did not play a game together this season. It is nearly impossible to have a productive season when this is the case.

Hunter, meanwhile, probably would have liked an opportunity to return and develop some chemistry with fellow starting wing Keegan Murray and young players like Nique Clifford and Maxime Raynaud. The seventh-year wing will be extension eligible over the summer, and Sacramento will likely be hesitant to commit significant money for multiple years to a player whose fit is relatively unknown.

Teams and players have prioritized extensions over free agency in recent years. While there will be more cap space than usual in coming years, it is by no means a safe bet for Hunter to rely on someone being willing to pay him significant money in the summer of 2027.

So, if there is a silver lining for anyone coming from this unfortunate situation, it is that the Kings can potentially extend Hunter at a lower value than if he had been healthy and finished this season strong.

If he wasn’t already, Scott Perry should now be well aware of how even a seemingly moderate overpay can turn into a burden that hamstrings your cap sheet, your rotations, and your trade deadline (see: Dennis Schroder, an egregious overpay that helped create a logjam that led to young talent not playing, and put Sacramento’s cap sheet in such a precarious place that Schroder had to be salary dumped). It would behoove Perry and the front office to consider capitalizing on circumstances creating inefficiencies in negotiating leverage, like this.

As it relates to the roster for the rest of the season, Sacramento should probably be looking into candidates for their open two-way contract. The Kings currently have 10 healthy players on their roster, with Isaiah Stevens and Daequon Plowden on two ways. Stevens has played 5 games with the Kings, and Plowden has suited up for 16.

NBA teams must have at least eight players active for games, so additional injuries could leave Sacramento with very thin margins for the remaining 25 games. Expect to see plenty of Plowden on the wing moving forward.

This catastrophic season still has about two months left. While Hunter will not be a part of this stretch run, here’s hoping that there are some silver linings down the stretch (aside from lottery positioning).