Basketball is a team sport, but the Kings are relying on the jump of one specific player as they try to carry last season's success into the 2023-24 NBA season.
Kings general manager Monte McNair said Keegan Murray was the "most impactful" rookie last season after the former No. 4 overall pick started and shined on a playoff team, broke the rookie 3-point record and was named to the All-Rookie First Team.
Now, McNair and the Kings are challenging -- and counting on -- the second-year forward to take a leap in Year 2.
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“I think it’s no secret that Keegan is going to be a huge part of how far we can go these next few years," McNair said Monday at Kings Media Day. "Obviously, a top-five pick, I think he had a very successful rookie season. I talked a lot about how he continues to answer questions that come up. The first two or three games of the playoff series [against the Golden State Warriors] were maybe not his best, and then he figured it out and had a fantastic end of the series.
"He's done that throughout his whole path. Now for him, we saw in summer league, can he take on a little bit more of a scoring role? Can he be more aggressive? I know coach made the joke that he got some wiggle, took it coast to coast, dunked on guys, so that's going to be a big step for Keegan. We have big hopes for him. And I don't think there's anything secret about that. He's got big hopes for himself."
Murray knew the team would heavily rely on him in his sophomore season, so he decided to stay in Sacramento for most of the summer.
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He also agreed with Kings coach Mike Brown's suggestion to participate in summer league, despite his success as a rookie. Murray played in the two California Classic games at Golden 1 Center, and showed glimpses of what the Kings are asking from him this season and beyond.
"I've been in Sacramento most of the offseason so I've been with a lot of the coaches during the offseason," Murray said. "Just figuring out different things with the offense where I can be successful because I know a lot of teams are going to try to take away the 3-point shot now. Just trying to figure out what I can do off of that and different ways I can score, midrange, get to the rim, stuff like that.
" ... I know that we're getting better internally as a team and as a group. I figured that if I stayed in Sacramento most of this offseason, figure out the playbook offensively and defensively, just try to get better that way, it helped me this year and helped our team too. So everything I did this offseason was to help our team and also help myself individually. I'm just excited to get on the court and be my best every single night."
Kings All-Star point guard De'Aaron Fox spent nearly the entire offseason with Murray.
From training on the court together to "Uncle Keegs" babysitting duties, Brown applauded Fox for taking Murray "under his wing" all summer.
Fox noted that Murray is becoming more comfortable both on and off the floor.
"Just being around him, just as a person, he's coming out of his shell," Fox said. "It's definitely been great to watch and great to witness. He's becoming more comfortable putting the ball on the floor. Obviously, he's one of the best shooters in the league and that's not going to change anytime soon.
"But for him, it's really us trying to add another player that can create for themselves at some point. Obviously, the way that we play, we don't need him doing a lot. But there are times [when] the clock is winding down or he might have a mismatch and he has to go to work. So I think he's become a lot more comfortable of doing that."
Sasha Vezenkov might be new to the Kings -- and the NBA -- but he's familiar with Murray's style of play because it reminds him a little of himself.
"He's a really hard worker. Really calm guy," Vezenkov said. "He's not talking too much but the work he puts in, it's what I like because I could see myself like [that] when I was young. Obviously a different level but work out every day, try to improve yourself in every aspect of your game. I think he'll be even greater than he was last year."
Murray portrayed his elite 3-point shooting ability in his first NBA season, but now he and the Kings hope he can unlock other parts of his game in order to help Sacramento take last season's success to the next level.