A team representative declared on Friday that Sacramento Kings forward De’Andre Hunter had left eye surgery, which concluded his season.
The team reported that Hunter sustained the ailment on Feb. 6 while facing the LA Clippers, and was identified with a retinal detachment. Dr. M. Ali Khan carried out the operation on Friday afternoon at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Roseville, California.
Hunter is anticipated to recuperate completely; as per the team, a status brief will be issued in roughly eight weeks.
Hunter, aged 28, was obtained by the Kings through a triple-team exchange involving the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls in the early part of this month. Sacramento transferred guards Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis to Cleveland; Hunter moved from the Cavs to the Kings; and Chicago was given two second-round picks along with Sacramento’s tall player, Dario Saric.
Hunter participated in two matchups for the Kings, with an average of 7.5 points on 21.1% field goal percentage and 1.5 boards, prior to being placed on the disabled roster due to left eye iritis.
Hunter marks the third Kings athlete to experience campaign-concluding operations lately, subsequent to Domantas Sabonis (left knee meniscus repair) and Zach LaVine (right fifth finger tendon repair). These operations closely follow NBA chief Adam Silver voicing apprehension about the association’s strategic defeat concern, which he stated has been “more severe this year than previously observed in recent times.”
Silver revealed he has conferred with the association’s 30 general managers to deliberate on the matter.
Sacramento (12-45) holds the poorest standing in the NBA. Should the Kings conclude with the lowest ranking, they will possess a 14% likelihood of securing the premier selection in the drawing for the 2026 draft, which is regarded as having a rich selection of talents joining the NBA in the upcoming summer.