The Sacramento Kings are 11-13 and 12th in the Western Conference. If they want to make a deep playoff run this year, they are going to need to make a trade. But what should they trade for?
A "Keegan Murray Clone"
The popular Kings' radio show "Sactown Sports 1140" had The Athletic's Anthony Slater on to talk about the Kings. Slater covers the entire league for the publication, but since he lives closest to the Kings, he keeps special tabs on them.
Anyway, "The Drive Guys" (Kyle Draper and Whitey Gleason, asked Slater what type of player the Kings could look for to improve their roster.
What is the biggest need for the Sacramento Kings?@anthonyVslater gives his thoughts on where the Kings could look to improve their roster. pic.twitter.com/BP54OQ4Bjl
— Sactown Sports 1140 (@Sactown1140) December 12, 2024
Slater responded by saying they need another Keegan Murray or a "clone of Keegan Murray," as he described it (which is ironic considering Keegan has an identical twin brother in the NBA).
What he means by that is the team needs another two-way wing/forward to flank their on-ball centric stars (De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, DeMar DeRozan, and Malik Monk). Slater also added that the Murray doppelgänger would preferably shoot better than he has been to start the 2024-25 season (although Murray could be primed for some positive regression).
One player Slater specifically mentioned is Cam Johnson – a player the Kings have long been linked to. He has definitely not had a problem hitting his threes this year (shooting 43.4% from downtown). Slater sees Johnson as the perfect target for the Kings.
Slater also made a joke that the Kings need a version of Jae Crowder (a veteran they recently added in free agency) from five or so years ago.
Regardless, Slater is in the same train of thinking we've long been on here at A Royal Pain. The Kings have too much on-ball creation and not enough size, shooting, and defense, and they need to make a deal to try and address that imbalance. Hopefully, they do, or else it looks like it is going to be a long season for Sacramento.