The Sacramento Kings were in such a terrible place before Keegan Murray's return that it was way too easy to feel like he wouldn't make a difference. Nothing could be further from the truth. His spark, energy, and new aggressive attitude is infectious, and may push the Kings further this year.
When the Kings drafted Murray fourth overall in 2022, the team and the franchise expected big things from him. They thought they were adding a young superstar. And they got that to an extent. There were flashes of brilliance but nothing close to what people were hoping far.
To be fair to Murray, that's not really his fault. When he joined the team, the Kings were a highly dysfunctional organization with an imbalanced roster and no focus on developing rookies. Sadly, not much has change since then, though Sacramento is trying to make improvements.
What has changed is Keegan Murray. During the course of the preseason, Murray picked up a left thumb injury that required surgery and kept him off the court for several weeks. During that time, the Kings accumulated a record of three wins and 12 losses. Since his return, they're two and two.
Will the real Keegan Murray please stand up?
Post-injury Murray is a lot more aggressive than fans have seen him in the past, both on offense and on defense. The skills were always there though the confidence wasn't. Maybe it's just maturing into his role, but this is a man on a mission for the Kings and the fans are here for it.
His first game back saw the Grizzlies utterly annihilate the Kings. Murray played off the bench, and was a little subdued. Since then, he has started every game, putting up big minutes and big numbers. Even in last night's loss, he had 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks,
It's impossible to miss the impact Murray has had on the entire roster. His energy and aggression is infectious, and is pushing the whole roster to play better. Without question, the Kings are becoming Keegan Murray's team in short order, and that's exactly what they needed.
Since De'Aaron Fox's departure, the Kings have lacked a leader and an identity. The new and improved Keegan Murray is giving them both. While there's still so much work to do in the course of this rebuild, the Kings definitely know who will be running the show on the court.