Sacramento Kings News: Injuries are finally starting to go our way

The Western Conference was tough last season (as it normally is), but the main reason the Sacramento Kings didn't make the playoffs last year was because of injuries.

If you don't know what I'm referring to, Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk (two of the team's best role players) suffered season-ending injuries in the month of March. The former missed the final 15 games of the regular season, and the latter missed the final nine. Both of them missed the Kings' two play-in games.

On March 19 (the day after Huerter went down with a shoulder injury), the Kings were 39-28 with the sixth-best record in the West. So, they wouldn't have even needed to participate in the play-in tournament in the first place.

Kings Will Be Mostly Healthy To Start The Season

Considering the fact Monk would have been able to return to the team if they made a run in the playoffs, he will be ready to go to start the 2024-25 season. As for Huerter, he is now cleared to get back to on-court activity.

As the tweet above states, Huerter still needs to be re-evaluated in mid-October before he can get back to full contact, but it seems like he is trending in the right direction. At worst, it looks like he will only miss the first handful of regular season games. With a stud like Keon Ellis in our ranks, we should be able to fill the (temporary) void left by him with little to no problem.

If Huerter is all good, that means that Devin Carter (also dealing with a shoulder issue) will be the only injured player in the Kings' rotation to start the 2024-25 regular season. By all accounts, he seems to be a promising prospect, but as of right now, he isn't one of our top 8 guys. So, having him out to start the year isn't that terrible of a blow.

Memphis Grizzlies Continue To Be Unable To Catch A Break

When you're a team with playoff aspirations, any other team like that in your conference is considered a rival. That means the Memphis Grizzlies (a team I view as a darkhorse contender in the Western Conference) are a team that we need to worry about.

Listen, as a human being, you never want to see people get hurt. However, injuries are a part of the game, and it is important to note that a team we will likely be competing with for playoff seeding just suffered a massive blow.

GG Jackson, one of the biggest surprises of the 2023 NBA Draft Class thus far, has suffered a tragic injury that could keep him out for the first half of the regular season (or even longer).

With Ja Morant, Desmond Bane, and Jaren Jackson Jr. all set to be healthy to start the season, Jackson doesn't project to be one of the team's best players. But he still does offer them some much-needed lineup versatility. Losing him for any stretch of time does not help this Grizzlies team at all.