When the Sacramento Kings took former Iowa forward Keegan Murray with the fourth overall pick of the 2022 NBA draft, many on the internet saw it as a death sentence for the former first-team All-American.
Just look at the Kings’ track record in the draft over the years. They passed up on Damian Lillard in 2012 to draft Thomas Robinson, a big who would be shipped out in less than a year with the emergence of DeMarcus Cousins.
Ben McLemore, the No. 7 overall pick in 2013, never really figured it out in the league, and it hurts to see CJ McCollum selected two picks later. The Kings would follow that up with a trio of first-round busts in Nik Stauskas, Willie Cauley-Stein, and Marquese Chriss.
Of course, the worst offense was taking Marvin Bagley III over star guard Luka Doncic in 2018. Doncic is already a three-time All-NBA first-team member, while Bagley fizzled out of the Kings’ lineup in a few years. This blunder was immediately on the minds of NBA fans as the Kings selected Murray ahead of Purdue guard Jaden Ivey. “Same old Kings,” everybody said.
It might only be Summer League, but the pairing of Murray with the city of Sacramento looks like a revelation for both sides.
Murray has been on fire this summer league, averaging 24 points per game. He is scoring efficiently from all levels on the court and has been a solid rebounder. Against No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic, Murray got his first real taste of crunch time NBA minutes. He responded with a big 3-pointer to send it to overtime. All summer, he has looked like a star.
It is not just about what Murray has provided for the Kings, though. Going to Sacramento has really helped Murray early on. In a recent interview with Chris Haynes on his podcast Posted Up, Murray described his placement in Sactown as a blessing.
“I, fortunately, in a positive way, fell to the Kings and it’s been a blessing for me. And I’ve just been blessed to be in this position. I think this is one of the best organizations I could have been a part of for my rookie year,” Murray said.
As Haynes wrote for Yahoo Sports, Murray already feels a good connection with his teammates.
“That’s the great thing about the guys on our team is that they just fuel each other, no negative stuff, anything like that. It’s just fuel. You see guys on our team step up and they’ve been a blessing to me,” Murray said.
Few teams enter the 2022 NBA season with more to prove than Sacramento. The Kings have by far the longest playoff drought in the NBA at 16 straight seasons. The second-longest drought is the Charlotte Hornets at six years, and at least they’ve made the play-in tournament the past two years.
The only team with a longer postseason drought in North American pro sports is Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners at 20 years. Not good company to mingle with.
With their track record, every move is magnified and placed under an immense amount of scrutiny. The decision to trade a seemingly budding star guard in Tyrese Haliburton, only 22, for Domantas Sabonis puzzled many. Sabonis himself still remains one of the most underrated players by the media despite being a two-time All-Star. The decision to pick Murray was met with unease by many in the fanbase and laughter by others.
With new coach Mike Brown at the helm—don’t forget he was the NBA Coach of The Year back in 2009—Murray and the entire Kings roster have one goal: prove everyone wrong and bring winning basketball back to Sacramento.
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