Yahoo Finance California Classic: Scout compares Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray to Kawhi Leonard
Keegan Murray is lifting more in the weight room while also carrying heavier expectations heading into his second season with the Sacramento Kings.
Murray, a forward, played point guard while leading Sacramento’s summer league team to a 100-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night at the California Classic at Golden 1 Center. He showed off skills he wasn’t able to demonstrate as a rookie playing alongside All-NBA point guard De’Aaron Fox and passing center Domantas Sabonis.
Murray brought the ball up, orchestrated pick and rolls and was challenged to guard the ball on the defensive end — all signaling an expansion and evolution of his game the Kings need if they’re going to advance beyond the first round of the playoffs.
“I’m just trying to get in uncomfortable situations on the floor,” Murray said after scoring 29 points while making 8 of 17 field-goal attempts and 10 of 11 free throws.
Monday’s game was an encapsulation of growing expectations inside the Kings organization. General manager Monte McNair and the front office decided against making splashy moves to add players from outside the organization when free agency began over the weekend.
Instead, the team used cap space created by the Richaun Holmes draft night trade to have more flexibility to bring back Harrison Barnes on a reasonable three-year, $54 million deal and sign Domantas Sabonis to a five-year, $217 million extension. They did not make a more expensive move like signing Kyle Kuzma, who returned to the Washington Wizards, or making a trade for Toronto Raptors burgeoning two-way star O.G. Anunoby, which might have required sending Murray to Canada.
The decision to bring back the majority of last year’s team is largely a bet on Murray to develop and provide an internal upgrade rather than finding it elsewhere and expending additional resources. And based on the way Murray is being discussed this summer, the team thinks the 22-year-old could take a significant jump in his second season.
Kings assistant Luke Loucks, who is coaching the Kings’ summer league team, said Murray scored 17 to 19 straight points in a recent scrimmage that made waves in the organization.
“Keegan just exploded in one of these scrimmages,” Loucks said after Monday’s game. “... Everyone in the gym — it was almost silent. Everyone could just feel how good he is. Obviously, that’s what we expect from him at this level of summer league and it’s something we’re pushing him to do.
“After the scrimmage, one of the scouts pulled me aside and was like, ‘The closest thing I’ve seen to what I just saw was Kawhi (Leonard) in Year 2.’ It wasn’t that Keegan is Kawhi or Kawhi is Keegan, but the step from rookie season — oh, you have a pretty good rookie — to holy smokes, this guy could be exceptional. And I think we’re all seeing it as an organization. We’re all feeling it, but we’re also pushing him to believe in that.”
Leonard, of course, won NBA Finals MVP with two different teams and is considered one of the best players in the NBA when healthy. Comparing Murray to him publicly will only increase the expectations and burden on the young forward.
But as effusive as Loucks was in his praise of Murray’s growth this summer, he also used his time in the postgame news conference to point out shortcomings. Murray had no assists in his role running the offense and didn’t give Sacramento a rebounding boost, which was emphasized throughout his rookie season.
“I did challenge him at halftime. He did only have one rebound at halftime,” Loucks said. “I wrote it on the board. I said, ‘You only have one rebound. Can you please help us rebound?’ And he went out and got zero in the second half. ... We ask a lot of our (players) like Fox and Sabonis. When you’re a key part of our organization, we’re going to demand a lot of out of you.”
Murray also had a highlight reel dunk in the first quarter on a breakaway, soaring over Warriors forward Gui Santos, who committed a foul.
“That was incredible,” Loucks said. “Incredible dunk. I’ll give him a C-minus on the staredown. He was flying through the air, incredible dunk, and he tried to stare him down.”
