While there weren't a lot of bright points in the Sacramento Kings' season-opening loss to the Clippers, the worst had to be the starting lineup. In particular, both De'Andre Hunter and Keegan Murray had terrible overall performances. It may be time to move them to the bench.
Ben Simmons' season-ending injury necessitated a change to the starting lineup, specifically at power forward. The Kings did the easy thing and swapped in Hunter. This left Murray, Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and Darius Acuff Jr. exactly where they were before.
The problem is that the easy thing isn't necessarily the smart thing. What little fans have seen of Hunter has been underwhelming, to say the least. He's not really making an impact on the court, either on offense or defense. Unfortunately, he's not the only one not living up to expectations.
After what was essentially a season lost to injuries, Murray has returned to the court in a less-than-impressive fashion. He has always been an inconsistent player, but his more recent performances in both the preseason and the first game of the regular season left a lot to be desired.
Sacramento has to make some serious changes to their starting five
The concern has to be that the Kings will wait too long to make the right decision, much like they did last season with Dennis Schroder. It was obvious for weeks that he was not working out as the starting point guard. They finally swapped him out for Russell Westbrook, long after they should have.
As it stands right now, Sacramento is already in a similar position with both Murray and Hunter. Precious Achiuwa can step in right now for Hunter, and everyone knows he will do better. Replacing Murray with Nique Clifford would be a great developmental opportunity for the sophomore.
Those are the most plausible choices to make right now. Both Domantas Sabonis and Zach LaVine had good showings in the Clippers game. And the Kings literally can't replace Darius Acuff Jr. in the starting lineup, as they don't have any other point guards on the team. He's a one-man show.
What is obvious is that the Kings cannot rest on this current starting five. They have to make the changes they can with the roster they have to work with. Standing pat with their current starting five as is just doesn't make a lot of sense, even in a season that's already a write-off.
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