The Sacramento Kings' wayward son, Keegan Murray, made his second return of the season, only to leave a couple of games later with another injury. If he makes it back again, his time will be about getting to know his new teammates and getting ready for the next stage of the rebuild.
This has been a tough season for Murray. A pair of injuries, one at the beginning of the season and another in January, have kept him off the court for long periods of time. Now, one final injury may keep him on the bench for the rest of the season. If so, he will have only played 23 games.
When Murray was on the court, he was inconsistent at best. The vast majority of his stats, particularly his shooting, have been all over the map. To be fair to Murray, it's hard to find any kind of rhythm when you're not regularly playing, and the roster keeps changing due to a number of factors.
On a positive note, when Murray made his return against the Magic, he looked good, though there was definitely some rust to shake off. What was even more interesting was his attitude, both towards his return as well as what he wanted to accomplish with what was left of the season.
Keegan Murray wants a productive end to the Kings' season
During a practice, Murray had media time and spoke about his goals for the rest of 2025-2026. Naturally, winning is always a priority, but he knows as well as anyone else that it will be a tall order for a disorganized Kings' team lacking an identity and being ravaged by multiple injuries.
Keegan Murray from practice this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/ZLhjxTOiNO
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) February 18, 2026
Murray also talked about getting the chance to actually play with some of the newer members of the roster, particularly rookies like Maxime Raynaud and Nique Clifford. That may not happen if the Kings decide to shut him down for the rest of the season and give him real time to get healthy.
The reality is that Keegan Murray is supposed to be the face of the franchise for the Kings, which is incredibly important in this rebuild phase. These rookies will be at the core of that process, and Murray will essentially be their leader. That's hard to do when he's never on the court.
If he does return and gets to play the last few games of the season, Murray has an opportunity to figure out who he and this team will be in a relatively low-stress environment. No one expects them to win. The postseason isn't on the line. He can take that leadership role and develop it.