Keegan Murray had an excellent rookie season. He started in 80 games, broke the rookie record for most three pointers made, and thrived in the back half of the playoff series against the Warriors. The excitement for his sophomore season was already at a fever pitch. But Keegan launched those expectations into orbit this summer after he thrived in the California Classic. In two games in the Classic, Keegan scored 41 points against the Heat and followed it up with 29 points against the Warriors.
The shot creation that Murray showcased at the Classic was a wholly different bag of tricks than we’d seen from him as a rookie. He hit pull-up shots off the dime, used on-ball screens to get extra room to take fadeaway shots, and—as he had many times in college—excelled at leading the fast break. And he did this while shooting 51.4% from the field and 45% from three in the two contests. It was just two Summer League games against fringe NBA players, but it wasn’t Murray beating the competition that was so exciting—it was how he did it. After a rookie season where he was a key factor in the offense as an off-the-ball mover and shooter next to De’Aaron Fox and Domas Sabonis, Keegan was showcasing his own on-the-ball growth in actual competitive games. After the Classic, he told reporters:
“I feel like a lot of the season I was just a catch-and-shoot three-point shooter. I want to be a guy that can get a basket if we need it. So just figuring out different ways I can score, different moves and at this point it is trial and error.”
While Keegan’s shooting ability and on-ball offensive growth are key for this season, so is his continued development on the other end of the court. Opponents loved to try and force switches and test the rookie on defense last year, and will continue to do so until he proves ready for the challenge. Keegan has always been a solid help defender, so hopefully the experience he gained last season and in the playoffs will help him be a more consistent, confident on-ball defender. Spending the offseason playing daily one-on-one games with De’Aaron Fox seems like a great way for Keegan to get used to guarding faster players.
The third big improvement I’m hoping to see from Keegan is on the boards. The Kings were 20th in the league for total rebounds last year, and cannot just rely on their rebounding champ in Sabonis if they want to stay strong in the strong Western Conference. We’ve already seen Keegan make a determined leap on the glass before; as Akis pointed out in his Season Review for Keegan, Murray averaged just 3.8 rebounds in his first 30 games, but after Mike Brown publicly asked Keegan to step up that effort, he snagged 5.2 a game the rest of the season. He was already their second leading rebounder last year, but continued determination and physicality on the glass from Keegan is key for both his and the team’s future.
So what will Keegan Murray’s sophomore season look like? Most of all, I’m hoping for the confidence he showed this summer to continue into the real games. There isn’t a quicker way for the Kings to blow the roof off their expectations than for Keegan to take the leap to the third best player on this roster.
Keegan Murray
The first draft of my piece here really was just those two words.
Good call on changing it up. We need to keep things civil and uncontroversial.
…is better looking than Kris Murray?
KEEGAN MURRAY!
FIFY
Trying to rein in my excitement – because development is never lineary – but mostly failing.
There is a decent chance it is more linear with Keegan with his fundamentals being so strong, and a lot of college experience.
Hope you have been well Rik.
I have been very well, thank you. Lovely summer vacation in England, and gearing up towards an exciting NBA season.
How about you?
I totally thought before I clicked the article that this was going to be a joke article based off the title/subtitle.
Same.
And maybe it is a joke, given that there’s no mention of the fact that Keegan will be enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame after this season, because that’s how damned great he’s going to be.
Maybe the Basketball Gods, after watching the last sixteen years, decided this fanbase needed the modern evoloution of a hybrid of Alex English and Dan Roundfield.
That might be hyperbolic, but I am sky high on Keegan. I am guessing year 4 he is being talked about for the ASG.
I’m not sure he’ll ever score like English or rebound like Roundfield, but if he did, he’d be more than an All-Star and more like a Hall of Famer. I’ll settle for a Danny Granger and Rashard Lewis hybrid, which would make for an amazing 3rd banana.
Will Keegan be at the Niners game tonight?
Answer: Yes.
That’s obviously Kris. He kind of smiled, dead giveaway.
Keegan Murray
Now that I’m done being silly, I can totally see Keegs becoming a 22/7/3 type of guy with absurdly efficient shooting splits working in an offense that puts up a 125 ORtg
If he is the third go to guy I can see this.
The names Spock
Keegan Murray is the Kings key factor this season. At the end of the season Keegan should be undisputably the 3rd best player on this team behind Fox and Sabonis.
What is he’s the first best player?
Future Star Wing, Danny Granger 2.0 (Basketball Gods, please continue your recent kindness)
A lot in relation to this core’s ceiling rest on Keegan, but in the same breath is also the reason I think for Monte’s patience. Sabonis is just entering the first year of what should be his best basketball. Fox is still a year or two away really from his prime. Keegan as an older rookie in the next couple of years will likely define what his ceiling and role will likely be as an NBA player.
With that in mind the team is wise to garner more info on what he might mean for this team longterm. Can he be an high end third option with fringe or assuring all-star upside is a looming question for this teams aspirations. But for his and our sake we have a couple of years to determine that. Fox’s deal has a nice runway, Sabonis is extended. Coupling up a big swing likely should coincide pitching De’Aaron’s third deal or right before it.
Long winded in saying I second Monte’s approach. This year is for gathering intel, marginally improve but most of all take stock of what the contours of the team realistically are moving forward. Keegan is intriguingly arguably the most fascinating factor in defining that.
Hopefully, I eon’t get drunk on expectation.
Last season, we saw a steady climb as Keegan became a reliable shot maker but was a reluctant shot creator.
This California Classic we saw the most aggressive version of Spock as he was the main scoring focus and didn’t shy from that spotlight.
He’s ready for a next step – but it won’t be CalClassic Keegan. Increments not leaps seems his comfort rate. He’s just a Soph – hopefully a Super Soph, but heoy got one year under his belt.
Best of all – he’s on a Sacramento team that will allow him to move up without the push of having to carry the squad like we’ve seen with young’uns in the Pre-Mike Brown Kings.
Your post reminds me that one can get drunk without expectation, too. In what could be the best kind of drunk. Grandma invites you over for jello, and after you’ve had some, she waves an empty bottle of Smirnoff in front of your face and says that now you’re hammered. Tell that to Keegan Murray, she cackles, and you realize that you’ve forgotten where the front door is, because your name isn’t Little Stevie Watson, and this strange woman isn’t your Grandma.
Keegan about done with all that Chik-Fil-A and he couldn’t be happier.
Spock!!!
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