All offseason long, we talked about how the Sacramento Kings will only go as far as Keegan Murray can take them. Given his blend of size, defense, and shooting, Murray has all the makings of someone who can be one of the best 3-and-D role players in the league (think: OG Anunoby).
Notice how we mentioned shooting. In Murray's rookie season, he set the rookie record for 3-pointers made in one's inaugural season (206 threes). What was even more impressive is he did this with great efficiency (41.1% from three).
Unfortunately, Murray took a stepback in his sophomore campaign, only hitting 35.8% of his threes. Now, it isn't atypical for great shooters to have a down shooting season. So, in isolation, his second year slump wasn't all that concerning.
What has been concerning to us here at A Royal Pain (and to Kings' fans in general) is that Murray has continued his rough shooting stretch through the first quarter of this season. Through 21 games, Murray is even worse from three than he was last year, hitting 27.4% of 3-point attempts. On top of that, Murray is taking fewer threes (5.5 per 75 possessions, per Dunks & Threes) than he was last year (7.2 per 75).
The fact that this cold streak is now happening across multiple seasons isn't great, but there is still hope. A quick look at Murray's past seasons shows that shooting below 30% in November is kind of a tradition for him.
Season | 3-Point Percentage |
|---|---|
November 2022 | 27.0% |
November 2023 | 26.2% |
November 2024 | 26.1% |
It's kind of freaky how similar Murray's 3-point numbers are in all three of the Novembers in his career. Hopefully, this pattern continues for December because if it does, Murray is in for a big month.
In December of his rookie season (2022-23), Murray shot 46.4% from downtown. Then, in December of his second season (2023-25), Murray hit 44% of his threes. A December in the mid-40s percentage-wise would surely cure a lot of worries as it pertains to Murray's jumper.
So far, Murray has only played one game in December, going 0-for-2 from three. That's not the start you want to see, but it is just one game. Given Murray's track record for slow starts, it is not time to fully panic just yet.