Once again, Keegan Murray will be out for an extended period of time due to an injury. While this obviously not good news, the situation could have been much, much worse for Murray and the Sacramento Kings. At least he'll only be gone for three to four weeks, assuming everything goes well.
While playing the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday, Murray went down with an injury and had to be helped off the court. Not surprisingly, he did not return to the game. It appeared to be an ankle issue, which was later confirmed by MRI to be a moderate left ankle sprain.
Murray will ride the bench for the next three to four weeks, after which his status will be re-evaluated. Hopefully, his recovery and rehab process goes well in the coming weeks so the Kings can stick to that return timetable. If not, Murray's absence could be even longer.
This isn't Murray's first long-term absence this season. During preseason play, Keegan's left thumb was injured and required surgery. It took weeks to heal, leading to him missing several games to start the season. After this month is over, his total number of missed game will continue to climb.
This could have been so much work for Murray and the Kings
As crazy as this sounds, it might actually be the best case scenario. Keeping in mind that the injury still needs to be taken seriously, it's only a moderate sprain. With rest and proper rehabilitation, Murray will hopefully be back in form within the month.
When Keegan went down during the Bucks game, it looked like it could have been something with his Achilles, which could have ended his season entirely. There are a wide range of ankle injures that can take months to heal, if they're ever completely right again.
Murray avoided all of this. Of course, missing no time would be preferable but the Kings are past that point. Plus, they narrowly avoided serious injuries to both Maxime Raynaud and Keon Ellis. Frankly, Sacramento should be happy they didn't end up with three young players suck on the bench.
Besides, it's not like Murray being injured again is going to impact this season negatively. They are already sitting at 14th in the Western Conference with a record of eight wins and 29 losses. If Murray is going to have an injury-plagued season, this is probably the best one for it to happen in.