Darren Collison out 6 weeks after surgery to repair core muscle

The Sacramento Kings are about to find out if George Karl can turn Ray McCallum into a quality rotation point guard.

McCallum will get his shot to start at the one for the Kings for the next six weeks and likely the remainder of the season, as the team will be without Darren Collison for an extended period.

Collison underwent surgery Tuesday to repair a core muscle injury. The UCLA product had missed seven games with what was originally called a hip flexor strain. The team said he is expected to be out six weeks after the procedure.

In all likelihood, the surgery will end Collison's season. Even if he's re-evaluated on an earlier time frame, it would make little sense to rush him back when the team would actually benefit from losses the rest of the way. The Kings will lose their first-round pick if it falls outside the top 10, and Collison returning early would make them a marginally better team down the stretch.

Should his season be over, he will finish averaging a career-high 16.1 points with 3.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists with the best offensive efficiency of his career. The 27-year-old has two years and $10.2 million remaining on his contract beyond this year.

McCallum, who has looked decent in starting the three games since Karl took over the team, will likely run with the starting gig from here. Andre Miller will get additional time to make a case for a 2015-16 contract, too, and 10-day contract signing David Stockton could be given an extended look.