Keegan Murray has been the talk of the Sacramento Kings coming into this season. After all, if he can prove to be the third star next to De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, the franchise is in a great spot moving forward.
Murray looks stronger, more dedicated to finding his own shot, and has taken his defensive intensity up a notch. And now, there is another person outside of Sacramento who is taking notice: Klay Thompson.
Following the Warriors 122-114 win over the Kings Friday, Thompson shared his thoughts on Murray.
“I think he’ll be with the Kings for a long time, I mean how old is he, 22? So yeah, he’s got star potential. Between him, Sabonis and Fox, that’s a nice big 3, and Keegan is one you can’t just leave open. He’s a great shooter and the next step for him would just be being a complete scorer. I know that’s down the road for him, but to be doing what he’s doing at his age is incredible so good for him and good for Sacramento in discovering him,” Thompson said.
Murray, who is actually 23 years old, finished with 16 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block in the loss to the Warriors. There were several plays throughout the game that showed his new sense of toughness he is approaching the game with this season. Murray also had several good looks that usually would drop for him, but bounced out of the rim.
Following the game, the second-year Murray took the podium to speak to reporters. He brought up the team’s physicality, but also highlighted the team’s lapses.
“I think [defensively] the first probably 20 minutes of the game we were really good and then through the third quarter it got away from us we weren’t good, but in the 4th quarter we picked it up. That is something we can’t do against a really good team, a 4-time championship team. … Our physicality, I feel like was good for the most part of the game,” he said.
Murray was on the floor in crunch time in the fourth quarter during Fox’s incredible stretch of baskets. Fox, Murray, Sabonis, Harrison Barnes and Chris Duarte (whose defense is going to be helpful this season) made it a game after it appeared the Warriors were going to run away with the victory. Head coach Mike Brown complimented those five guys for the effort.
“The guys that were on the floor tried to bring it. … Our guys had active hands and kind of let the ball go to the right person, we got a little lucky and we were able to go on a run. So, I feel really good with the effort and intensity that those guys brought because when you are down 20, it’s easy, especially against that team, it’s easy to say hey you know what? Let’s just wrap this thing up, get me out of the game and we can go on to the next game, but our guys didn’t so for sure we should feel good about that.”
Despite the fact that Steph Curry and the Warriors remain a problem for the Kings, the foundation they have with Murray as a key piece of this is very promising.
What are we going to do next Wednesday night? Something has to change or it will be the same as last night. In my comment on the last post It seems there could be a pattern developing. I hiope not.
You think this team should play defense?
I’m sure a lot of teams playing against teams with all-time greats like Russel, MJ and LBJ were complaining about patterns. I’m not one of his fans, but he’s easily a top 10 all-time great, probably closer to top 5.
Our time will come, I hope, but it may take a while. Or maybe we will beat them the upcoming play-offs. Not knowing is the exciting bit.
In the meantime, considering that he’s 35, maybe we should loan the headline from this article: “What Curry is doing at his age is incredible.” His fitness and agility are somewhat forgotten due to the insane shooting, but they are part of what makes him a great shooter.
Keegan MURRAY!
better and better
and we get to see and relish that growth.
The rest of the League will get triskaidekaphobia*
*fear of the number 13
Keegan is playing smart basketball and getting his stats without taking from others. He gets it.
I really like Murray. He is trying hard to be that third guy. I think that will happen. He not only can shoot but has improved in a lot of different aspects of the game.besides offense.but it takes more than 3 players to win games especially like todays game against the Lakers. We shoot like we did Friday forget the win. If the Kings are a winning team it has to be teamwork and other players have to step up. It’s as simple as that.
Through 2 games, he’s already proven he’s the third fiddle. That’s impressive, considering he was the 5th option on the starters last season. I feel this season he could approach Rudy Gay levels of production like when the Kings had three 20 point scorers with DMC, IT and Gay. The current trio is far better than the past trio and has a much better supporting cast when firing on all cylinders.
Klay Thompson is only saying what we already knew, his validation means nothing to me. I might take it with a grain of salt had Steve Kerr said it. Maybe.
The team is playing really well, so to see Steph Curry brush us off like we aren’t shit is a bit disturbing. He definitely had some help from Looney, again, but definitely have to tip your cap to Steph’s ridiculous abilities.
The grain of salt is that I don’t think too many teams have the makeup to do what the Warriors are able to do to us. It takes versatile depth, a very disciplined defensive scheme, and a top 5 scorer in the history of the league.
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