The Sacramento Kings came into training camp with several rotation roles to iron out. We knew De’Aaron Fox was starting at point guard, we knew Domantas Sabonis was starting at center, we were pretty sure Harrison Barnes was going to sneak in there at one of the forward positions, and that left two spots open for competition.
Well, Mike Brown provided some clarity after practice today about who will likely be sharing the backcourt with De’Aaron Fox once the regular season tips off.
Kings coach Mike Brown says Kevin Huerter has probably secured the starting shooting guard spot while the power forward is still wide open. No cuts are expected until after the second preseason contest on Sunday.
— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) October 7, 2022
Kevin Huerter it is. It’s worth noting here that De’Aaron Fox, Kevin Huerter, Harrison Barnes, KZ Okpala, and Domantas Sabonis started preseason game 1 against the Los Angeles Lakers, so this isn’t a terribly surprising development.
Brown also stated that the starting power forward spot is still wide open. I’d speculate that the contest is between defensive specialist Okpala and Kings rookie Keegan Murray at this stage of training camp.
Okpala has some promising moments defensively against LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday, but Keegan Murray stole the show with his 16-point, 6 rebound performance.
This is where I start editorializing. It’s too early in both Mike Brown’s tenure and the 2022-23 season for this high-strung Kings fan to get too upset over what we’re still going to call a competition, I guess, but Keegan Murray is the guy. You picked him 4th overall in the draft and he’s acing every test. Start the man.
The Kings will continue their preseason run on Sunday, October 9th vs. the Portland Trail Blazers in Sacramento.
Huerter starting was expected, but it will be interesting to see how Fox and Monk get some time on the floor together. I thought you could kill two birds with one stone by staggering Fox and Sabonis. Take Fox out first then put him back in when Sabonis sits and Monk is in the game. Take Fox out after a few minutes then back in to finish the 2nd and 4th quarters. We’ll see what they do.
I want to see the video of Mike Brown saying the PF spot is “wide open” just to get a feel for how he said it. Sean, Frankie Cartoscelli, and Jason Anderson all used that language so it’s most likely a direct quote.
I think it should be Keegan with the other players we have in the starting lineup. Fox and Sabonis are the focal points, and you probably expect them to be the leading and second-leading scorers (maybe Sabonis would be third). They also need space to operate which could be accomplished through playing them with good three point shooters. But neither has proven themselves to be good three point shooters. Ergo, the other three players they play with ideally would be. It’d be great if one of the two was a good shooter from range. Then maybe play a defensive specialist.
Huerter and Barnes are good distance shooters; KZ has not shown he is while Keegan did in college and Summer League. KZ looks like a good defender, but his “stand in either corner and be ignored by the defense” role on offense is not good. Keegan is probably not as good a defender, especially as a rook, but he doesn’t seem bad either. I think overall it is Keegan.
How’s his defense? Can he be the “Huerte Locker”?
This one never really seemed like much of a battle to me. Huerter is a better playmaker and defender than Monk and he’s just a lot bigger. You’re a much more switchable team with Huerter starting.
I won’t be surprised to see Keegan start the year on the bench, start finishing games, then assume the starting role a few months into the season. He’ll probably be getting 25-30 minutes from day one whether he starts or not.
Guys…I like the idea of Murray starting at PF, but the possibility of him playing backup SF opens thousand of possibilities.
Imagine if he is our starting SF by the all star break?
Spoiler alert, the Kings will mostly start their lottery pick and the guy they traded a future 1st to obtain
If a 30 win team doesn’t start their #4 pick in favor of a guy who couldn’t get minutes in Miami and was then cut by OKC, then we have a problem.
What difference does it make? If KM plays in the regular season like he has played in SL and the first preseason game then he’ll eventually be starting. I think Coach Brown knows best considering he’s running practice everyday and the rest of us don’t know ish.
If a 30 win team once again guarantees a starting spot to a lottery pick without that player earning that spot then consistent stupidity continues.
he is currently in the process of earning it.
I hope he does earn it. I think he has a bright future.
Exactly, everyone has to earn it. For fans to be asserting who should start before the season has started and we’ve scene how these guys play in actual games is strange.
He has probably already earned it with his play. KZ hasn’t shown he has earned it in his career. Be interesting to see what happens
I like Huerter, he”ll be solid for us. He looked really good in the playoffs a couple years ago for the Hawks when they went to the ECF
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