Keegan Murray is ready to put it all together as a complete player

By now, Sacramento Kings fans know the on-court arc of Keegan Murray. The blistering shooting from three in his rookie season with the Beam Team, the big jump on defense in his second season. The continued dip in his three-point shooting in his third season even while the defense was on display as the team’s style of play felt a decade removed from that magical season just two campaigns before. Then, the injuries that prevented much of an opportunity for him last season.

Coming into his fifth season, Murray says his goal is to put it all together and become a complete player.

“Being a complete player. I feel like in the league, I’ve shown flashes and different stuff, and it’s just trying to put it all together in one season. I’m at this point in my career I just want to have one season where it’s kind of like, ‘dang that’s the season where he kind of showed everything.’ I feel like I’ve put in enough work to do that so I’m just excited to get this thing rolling,” he said Monday at Media Day.

And it makes sense: Put the shooting, aggressiveness (we see in small spurts), and the defense together for the complete package. Up until now, it has seemed the effort on defense impacted his offense. And we shouldn’t forget the circumstances around him and the lack of ball movement that took place once the Beam Team got dismantled.

He’s hoping that style of play can return.

“I know I can shoot the ball; it’s just being able to find a rhythm in the game. I feel like a lot of the times last year, I was shooting just off grenades or there were a lot of contested threes and stuff like that. I’m at my best when I’m moving, when I’m coming off DHOs, pin downs, and things like that. I’ve put in a lot of work, and I know how good of a three-point shooter I can be so it’s not a confidence issue or anything, it’s just being able to get good looks,” said Murray, who spent the summer rehabbing from injury.

That’s the style of play he remembers from early in his career.

“I feel like I’m at my best when the ball is popping and when guys are moving, when we’re unpredictable. I’ve talked to guys around the league too and they said when they played us our first couple of years, it was hell for them because we were unpredictable, we were cutting, things like that so I think the more that we can do that the better we’ll be,” he said.

Who knows if the Kings are going to get back to that. They certainly could since they still have Domantas Sabonis, who was responsible for all those DHOs.

Last season, we did get a glimpse of what Keegan Murray, the complete player, could look like. It was in November against the Minnesota Timberwolves. The threes, the defense, the attack mode. It all led to 26 points and 14 rebounds in 44 minutes of action, and Murray’s full bag of potential was there for everyone to see. So much so that after the game, DeMar DeRozan called it Keegan’s team when talking about how special he is going to be in this league.

Let’s hope we see a lot of complete Keegan this season.