Sacramento Kings lose Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter to injury

The Sacramento Kings have beendealt a significant blow with the NBA playoffs around thecorner.

After being virtually healthyall of last season, the Kings were unfortunately bit by the injurybug this year, as they will likely be without key guards Malik Monkand Kevin Huerter due to injuries, according to separate reports byThe Athletic’s Shams Charania.

A Sixth-Man-of-the-Yearcandidate and a dynamic scorer off the bench for the Kings, Monk isfeared to have a sprained MCL in his right knee and will undergofurther testing to determine the severity of theinjury.

The 6-foot-3 Monk has been vitalfor Sacramento, providing a huge scoring boost off the bench,averaging 15.4 points and 5.4 assists per game.

Huerter, the Kings’ startingshooting guard, will reportedly undergo surgery to repair a tornlabrum in his left shoulder. Kings coach Mike Brown wouldn't ruleout Huerter for the entirety of the playoffs, but he will miss therest of the regular season. Huerter may be able to return if theKings make a deep playoff run.

The 6-foot-7 Huerter isessential for a lot of the Kings’ offensive actions, oftentimes arecipient of dribble handoff actions from star center DomantasSabonis and providing spacing and shooting for Sacramento’soffense.

Expected to step up in Monk andHuerter’s absences is Keon Ellis, a 3-and-D guard who's capable ofhitting the open three while playing suffocating defense againstopposing guards.

Backup point guard DavionMitchell would likely see his minutes increase as well, and hemight see the floor with star point guard De'Aaron Fox as the Kingsfill in the holes left by Monk and Huerter.

Sacramento is in the midst of atight Western Conference playoff race. They are currently 42-31,which is the eighth-best record in the West. They sit just fourgames behind the fourth-seed Los Angeles Clippers, while onlyhaving a four-game lead over the 11th-place HoustonRockets.