The Sacramento Kings have a chance to build something real around Keegan Murray. But right now, it looks like they might be getting in their own way. With De’Aaron Fox no longer in the picture, there's been an opening this offseason for the team to lean further into Murray’s development and start molding him into a featured piece on offense.
Instead, the front office has added even more ball-dominant veterans and surrounded Murray with players who will likely push him right back into a secondary role. If the Kings are not careful, they are going to waste one of the most efficient young forwards in the league.
Last season should have been the launching pad. Murray improved across the board. He took on tougher defensive matchups, grew more confident with the ball in his hands, and showed he could make plays both inside and out. There were stretches when he looked like the best all-around player on the floor for Sacramento, and it felt like a matter of time before the offense started to tilt more in his direction. But even after Fox was moved, that shift never fully materialized.
Part of that falls on the coaching staff, and part of it falls on a roster that has always been built around Domantas Sabonis. But the bigger concern is what the front office has decided to do with the opportunity it had this summer. Rather than clearing the runway for Murray, the Kings brought in Dennis Schroder and have remained active in talks for other veteran guards. These moves might add stability on the surface, but they also crowd the hierarchy in a way that limits Murray’s growth.
The Kings aren't giving Murray enough opportunity
The problem here is not just minutes or touches, it's development. Murray is already good enough to be a consistent 16 to 18-points-per-game scorer. But if he is ever going to make the leap into something more, he needs to be trusted with more volume and more responsibility.
That does not mean forcing shots or blowing up the current system. It just means being intentional about giving him the ball in different spots, letting him work through mistakes, and treating him like a focal point instead of an afterthought.
The Kings do not have the kind of young talent surplus that allows them to be casual about this. Murray is one of the few players on the roster with a chance to become a legitimate two-way star. If they keep pushing him to the side while chasing marginal short-term wins, they are going to look back in a few years and wonder why it never clicked.
Murray has already proven he belongs. Now it's on Sacramento to decide whether they are actually going to let him lead, or continue holding him back from the next step.