Don’t look now, but Kevin Huerter and the Sacramento Kings are the hottest team in the NBA as they have won six straight games. After starting the season 0-4, the Kings turned a corner and are now sitting at 9-6 on the season. Even Brooklyn Nets’ superstar Kevin Durant is taking notice.
While Mike Brown’s defensive principles have yet to kick in, as Sacramento is 27th in defensive rating, their offense has been outstanding. They currently have the No. 1 rated offense in the NBA with a 119.3, just ahead of the Boston Celtics with 119.
The Kings are the best shooting team in the NBA, making 50.2 percent of their shots on the season. Six players are averaging at least 12 points per game on the team as they are led by the duo of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
Fox is in the midst of the breakout we have been waiting for as he is averaging 25.4 points to go along with 6.4 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. Sabonis is Nikola Jokic-lite for the Kings, averaging 17.5 points, 10.9 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game.
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Those two are garnering a ton of headlines and rightfully so. However, the performance of Kevin Huerter should not go unnoticed. He was acquired from the Atlanta Hawks this offseason in exchange for Justin Holiday, Maurice Harkless and a future first-round pick.
As shared by Boardroom, Kevin Durant has been impressed with how well Huerter has played. He showered the Maryland product with a lot of praise, comparing what he is doing to the shooting of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson.
“If you aren’t a basketball fan and locked into the league, you gotta watch how Kevin Huerter is shooting this ball right now.”
Durant and the Nets saw how much of a flamethrower Huerter has turned into firsthand last week. He scored 19 points, making 7-of-10 shots overall and 5-of-7 from 3-point range to go along with three assists, two rebounds and one steal.
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Huerter has come out of the gates on fire this season. He is averaging a career-high 16.6 points per game, on a scorching hot 49.5 percent from 3-point range. Heurter showcased a good shooting stroke during his time with the Hawks, where he made 37.9 percent of his 3-point attempts, but has taken things to another level with the Kings.
His stat line is rounded out with 3.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per game as a strong complement to Fox as the starting shooting guard.
