Kings may be getting one of the best shooters in the league back to start the season

The start of the NBA regular season is quickly approaching. For the Sacramento Kings, that day is on October 24 – when the team hosts the new-look Minnesota Timberwolves.

And according to recent reports, it looks like the Kings will be nearly healthy when that day comes. Heading into the preseason, the Kings had two major injuries they were dealing with.* One to their prized lottery pick, Devin Carter (who could miss the whole season), and one to their starting shooting guard of the last two years, Kevin Huerter. Ironically enough, both of them are dealing with left shoulder injuries.

(*Sidebar: Malik Monk is also away from the team, but that is for personal reasons. Reports suggest that he isn't supposed to miss too much time.)

Kevin Huerter cleared for full contact

The aforementioned left shoulder injury forced Huerter to miss the final 15 games of the 2023-24 season. Since then, it has taken Huerter nearly all offseason to recover. But he is getting closer and closer.

In September, Huerter was cleared for on-court workouts. And now, as the headline suggests, he is able to participate in full contact workouts.

The preseason ends on October 17. So, it is unlikely that Huerter will see any exhibition action. But with 12 days left before the start of the regular season, there is a good chance he will be good to go by then.

Who will be the starting shooting guard?

Okay, so when Huerter returns, who will be the Kings starting shooting guard?

Head coach Mike Brown has already ruled out the possibility that Malik Monk will don that mantle. In fact, during media day, Brown told reporters that Keon Ellis would be the team's starting shooting guard. But he prefaced that by saying it was out of necessity due to the Kevin Huerter injury.

Huerter has been the team's starting shooting guard since he got here in 2022, starting 134 of the 139 games he's appeared in. Will Brown give him his spot back? Or will Brown continue to ride Ellis (a player I think has the potential to be one of the best role players in the league)?

The latter could very well be possible (and would be the right call, in my opinion). Ellis' two-way brilliance gives the Kings' starting lineup more balance. Plus, recent social media photos suggest that Huerter has been bulking up to play small forward anyway.

What will Brown do? Only time will tell. For now, we should rejoice in the fact that we are one step closer to getting one of the best sharpshooters (16th in threes made in 2022-23) in the league back in the lineup.