Earlier this offseason, I made a post about the four Sacramento Kings who were most likely to be traded. So far, three of those four players (Davion Mitchell, Chris Duarte, and Harrison Barnes) have been moved. The only one from that list who is still left on the roster is the gentleman in the thumbnail, Kevin Huerter.
I had Huerter as the second-most likely King to be traded because I was under the belief that the teams were looking to make a big move to upgrade their roster that would include trading Huerter and Barnes. However, the Kings managed to make a big move (orchestrating a sign-and-trade for DeMar DeRozan) without parting ways with Huerter.*
(*Sidebar: This is especially surprising given how interested the Chicago Bulls were in Huerter's services.)
So, now that the Kings have made a significant move and Huerter is still on the roster, what are the odds that he is still with the team at the start of the 2024-25 season?
What The Fans Think
As I tend to do with debatable questions like this, I asked the good people on Twitter (I refuse to call it "X") what their thoughts were on the situation. Fortunately, I was able to get a solid sample size (155 votes). Here is what they had to say:
Will Kevin Huerter be on the Kings' roster to start next season?
— Mat Issa (@matissa15) July 7, 2024
It looks like a majority of fans (69.7%) believe that the Huerter will be moved before the start of the season. Meanwhile, only 30.3% (47 votes) of people envision Huerter being with the team when they tip off the 2024-25 season.
What I Think
If Huerter is no longer on the team (which is what 108 people seem to think) at the start of the season, it will most certainly mean that the Kings made another big trade. Part of the appeal of acquiring DeRozan was that he gave you the flexibility to make additional trades this offseason.
However, I don't think the Kings are going to make another trade this offseason. While they have been rumored to still be inquiring about Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma, my hunch is that the Kings will try to see how good their current group is and wait until closer to the 2025 NBA Trade Deadline to upgrade their roster (if they deem that to be necessary).
That way, they can figure out if Huerter was just having a down year in 2023-24 and if, in 2024-25, he can bounce back to the form he was in during his first year in Sacramento. If that happens, he could be an integral part of their success next year, or at the very least, he could enhance his value in the trade market.