1. Keegan Murray
Average Annual Value: 9.1 million dollars
Production Value: 28.6 million dollars
Difference: 19.5 million dollars
Speaking of overpaying for role players, the Kings are technically underpaying their two best role players. We already discussed Ellis. But Keegan Murray has an even greater disparity between his production value and average annual value.
Murray is making an average of 9.1 million dollars on his current deal, but based on his EW (8.4), he should be making 28.6 million dollars next season. Along with his ability to develop even further, Murray's team-friendly deal is yet another reason that he should be deemed untouchable in most trade discussions.
It is worth noting that the main reason Murray's contract is so good is that he is still on his rookie deal. In all of the major American sports, rookie contracts are viewed as a way to get quality production at a price that is below the player's fair market value. Hopefully, the Kings will extract the same value from 13th overall pick Devin Carter's rookie contract.
When this deal is done (end of 2025-26 season), the Kings will have to pay the piper. But if Murray keeps improving at the rate we think he can, he should be able to keep outperforming the dollar figure the Kings are paying him.