After what was essentially a lost season for Keegan Murray, the Sacramento Kings are expecting big things from the power forward. The question is why do they think that? His play has been mostly mediocre with flashes of brilliance. Given their depth at power forward, a new direction may happen.
The Kings drafted Murray fourth overall in 2022. He quickly became a fan favorite as part of the briefly successful period known as the so-called Beam Team Era. He played 29.8 minutes per game across 80 appearances, shooting an average of 41.1% from beyond the arc.
That's a solid debut season, especially when you consider it was the first time the Kings made the playoffs in 16 years. But the problem isn't his debut. It's what's happened since then, or to be more precise, what hasn't happened since then. That would be improvement in his game.
The stagnation of Keegan Murray on the Kings
Murray's second and third seasons saw him maintain what he established in his first season. In some stats, there were nominal increases, while other stats, such as three point shooting, saw heavy declines. It's not that Murray is getting worse so much as it his inability to move forward.
To be fair to Murray, the Kings are notorious for completely botching the development of young players. Fans have seen it time and time again. Plus, his "lost" fourth season in 2025-2026 was due to injury issues beyond his control. It's hard to grow when you're not on the court consistently.
That doesn't change the fact that there has been no significant improvement in Murray's game beyond what fans saw in season one. Despite that, the Kings gave Murray a five-year rookie contract extension worth $140 million. That seems short-sighted given what they haven't seen from him.
Kings have other factors to consider
Sacramento is likely to start Murray as their power forward this season. Backing him up is Precious Achiuwa with De'Andre Hunter, Dylan Cardwell, and Alex Karaban in reserve. The Kings will also look to get Maxime Raynaud minutes at power forward to maximize his development.
If Murray continues to stagnate, the Kings have to start asking themselves if he's really that guy. Achiuwa actually had a strong season in 2025-2026 and could easily slide in as the starter. Karaban has an incredibly high ceiling, and needs development. Being the secondary accomplishes that.
The reality is that the Kings have more options at power forward now than they did when they handed Murray that extension. If he can't get the job done now, this rebuild cannot afford to wait for him to figure it out. Sacramento might be better off trading him when he still has value on the market.
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