Keeping faith in Keegan Murray now and tomorrow

Mike Brown has been a revelation in many ways this season, but how he has helped build Keegan Murray’s career foundation is central to everything that feels good about this budding era.

Brown put faith in a rookie Murray from the beginning of the season despite the fact that the rest of the starting lineup was largely young (with the exception of Harrison Barnes) and considering that Brown is reputed to be a defense-first coach. Rookies don’t usually play good defense, and with Domantas Sabonis and Barnes at the bigs, you could see other coaches taking someone like KZ Okpala there, or keeping Murray on the bench in a lower pressure setting by starting a traditional center next to Sabonis.

Brown had faith in Murray from the start, even when it was quite far from certain that the Kings would be one of the more surprising, positive stories of the NBA season. Murray had some great stretches and some shaky stretches. Brown didn’t waver. Murray started the fourth game of the season. He started every game he played thereafter.

There was a stretch where he scored 9 points in three games on the road. He kept starting. A 3-game stretch with 7 points on 2/21 shooting. He kept starting. Brown kept demanding more: that he handle the ball instead of passing immediately, that he defend better despite his youth, that he shoot when he was open regardless of whether he missed or made the last three shots. Brown demanded a ton of Murray all season, and rewarded his work and willingness with faith.

And so when Murray started the playoffs with 10 points over three games on 3/13 shooting, it wasn’t a surprise that Brown stuck with him. This is what Brown had done all year. Some outside the fandom called for Brown to replace Murray with Malik Monk to juice the offense and get Sacramento’s best players on the court. Brown maintained his faith in Murray, and it paid off in Game 4.

Here’s the deal: it’s not just paying off now. This is the foundation of Murray’s NBA career. This is going to pay off in the Kings’ next playoff run and all those yet to come. To let Murray work through his slump as he did all year, Brown is ensuring that Murray knows how to get through it the next time it happens. Everyone always says that playoff basketball is different, that you don’t know what it’s like until you experience it. Brown is ensuring that Murray knows what it’s like because there are going to be a lot more playoff series in Murray’s future with the Kings.

Keeping faith in Keegan Murray gives Brown and the Kings their best chance to beat the Warriors and advance through the Western Conference. It also gives the Kings their best chance to continue to be excellent in the coming years. The rewards started in Game 4, but it’s about much more than that.
There’s a corollary here with Davion Mitchell, of course. Brown kept him in the rotation all year despite the arrival of Monk and Kevin Huerter, who took places above him in the backcourt pecking order. Monk has sometimes been the de facto point guard with De’Aaron Fox off the floor, but Mitchell’s offense has nonetheless grown – both in running the actual offense and in creating for himself. That faith Brown has shown in Mitchell’s development has paid dividends in this series, too. Off Night has played nearly as many minutes as Huerter and Monk, and has had some huge buckets in between trying to chase Steph Curry all over creation.

One particularly relevant moment was in the fourth quarter after Curry shook Fox to get open for a three. Brown immediately put Mitchell in the game. For a player as young as Mitchell, that’s a heady assignment. Brown believes in him, and it’s paying off. As with Murray, that’s important now and in the future.

This is how you build lasting teams: you put your young players in positions to succeed, and you keep faith in them when they fail. It speaks extremely well to Brown’s leadership and it promises good things beyond this series and this playoff run for the Kings.