Kings lose player to season-ending surgery for third time this week

Jason Anderson, The Sacramento Bee on Feb 20, 2026

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento Kings were eager to see De’Andre Hunter play alongside Keegan Murray after acquiring him in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers, but that won’t happen any time soon.

A league source told The Sacramento Bee on Friday that Hunter had season-ending surgery on his left eye, confirming a report from NBA insiders Marc Stein and Chris Haynes. The news came 48 hours after the Kings announced that Zach LaVine (finger) and Domantas Sabonis (knee) would miss the rest of the season after undergoing surgical procedures to repair their injuries.

The Kings acquired Hunter on Feb. 1 in a three-team trade that sent Dennis Schroder and Keon Ellis to the Cleveland Cavaliers while Dario Saric went to the Chicago Bulls. Hunter appeared in only two games for Sacramento before developing left eye iritis after taking a shot to the face in a Feb. 6 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

Hunter was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice as the Kings prepared to play the Orlando Magic on Thursday at Golden 1 Center. After practice, Hunter told reporters his eye was improving.

“It’s not all the way there yet, but it’s definitely a lot better than it was,” Hunter said. “I’m able to actually play and train and stuff like that, so it’s progressing really well.”

Hunter was reevaluated Friday morning. At that time, he was diagnosed with a retinal detachment, prompting the decision for him to undergo surgery Friday afternoon. The surgery was performed by Dr. M. Ali Khan at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Roseville.

Hunter, 28, is a 6-foot-7, 221-pound forward with a 7-2 wingspan. He entered the NBA as the No. 4 pick in the 2019 NBA draft after playing two seasons at Virginia, where he was named Defensive Player of the Year by the Atlantic Coast Conference and the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

The Kings believe Hunter and Murray could be a formidable duo at the forward spots, giving the team two long and versatile defenders who can guard multiple positions. Murray and Hunter were looking forward to playing together, but Murray was out with an ankle injury when the Kings acquired Hunter and Hunter was out with the eye injury when Murray returned in Thursday’s game against Orlando.