De'Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, and DeMar DeRozan may be considered the Sacramento Kings' best players right now. But arguably no one means more to the team's future than their 2022 first round pick, Keegan Murray.
What makes Murray so special is his blend of size, defense, and shooting. In theory, Murray has all the makings of a player who could be one of the best role players in the league when he reaches his prime (think OG Anunoby).
Unfortunately, for the last year and a half, that third part of his skillset (shooting) has been failing him. After shooting 41.1% from three and breaking the rookie record for threes made in a season in 2022-23, Murray has struggled to knock down triples with any level of consistency.
Last season, Murray shot a pedestrian 35.8% from downtown, and in his first 32 games of this season, Murray reached a new low – hitting just 28.6% of his threes. But since then, something strange has been taking form.
Keegan Murray is back
After shooting 0-for-3 from deep in a win against the Dallas Mavericks on December 30 (their first win of seven straight), Murray missed the following two games with an ankle injury. And ever since he returned from that brief recovery stint, Murray has been red-hot from beyond the arc.
In his last six games, Murray is averaging 7.3 threes per game and hitting a ridiculous 47.7% of them. This stretch has taken his season-long percentage up from 28.6% to 32.4%. Coincidentally (not really), the Kings are 5-1 in those games.
As is to be expected, this recent shooting surge has helped spike his overall scoring volume as well. After averaging 11.6 PPG in his first 32 games, Murray is up to 14.5 PPG in his last six.
It seems silly to think, but maybe resting Murray's ankle for a few games was exactly what he needed to rekindle the spark on his 3-point jumper. Whatever the case may be, the Kings are ecstatic that their prized two-way forward may finally have gotten his groove back.