The Sacramento Kings don't have a clear path to contention in the Western Conference, and the upcoming Keegan Murray contract extension might raise more questions than it answers about how the franchise plans to proceed after dealing its best player about seven months ago.
Murray will be a restricted free agent next summer — when you look at the contracts that similar players received, and factor in how exorbitantly the salary cap is expected to rise in coming years, Murray's asking price will undoubtedly be sky high.
Will the Kings be willing to pay it? I'm not sure. Should the Kings be willing to pay it? I'm also not sure. But I am sure that neither of those questions having a clear answer is a byproduct of how the Kings front office handled team-building over the past four years. That is to say, poorly.
Does the team still view Murray as part of its future? Or has his presence on this roster become otiose after the team's brief era of contention crumbled quickly in 2024-25?
Finding a middle ground on Keegan Murray
The former Iowa Hawkeyes star is obviously a productive NBA player. In three seasons, he's shot 37.2% from deep, improved his rebounding (up to a career-high 6.7 per game last year), and become one of the most reliable defenders on the Kings roster. The Kings are almost always better when he's on the court.
But Murray also has clear limitations that prevent his potential from being "All-Star," and without a clear young star on the roster, committing to Murray — a good player, but likely not a franchise cornerstone — might not be the best way to operate financially.
Now, I'm certainly not saying the team should let Murray walk or sign a qualifying offer elsewhere next summer; losing a talented young player for nothing is worlds worse than paying him a lot of money on a team that isn't likely to contend.
The Kings should try to find a middle ground on Murray, who will be 26 next year when his contract expires. If another team is willing to part with first-round picks for the opportunity to sign him long-term, that might be the best approach. If he is willing to take a lesser contract, then bringing him back makes more sense.
But it'll be hard to blame Murray if he searches for a contract north of $150 million, and in that case, it'll become harder to justify from the Kings perspective... which, again, is their own fault. Murray would be the perfect complementary option on a contending team — think OG Anunoby in New York, or Jaden McDaniels in Minnesota. But without a clear future or young starpower, it feels somewhat pointless to pay big bucks for a great role player on a mediocre team. A role player without a defined role, if you will.
If there's one thing the Kings are great at, it's backing themselves into a corner, and they might be doing that again with Keegan Murray.