Sacramento Kings: 3 expectations for Keegan Murray in his rookie season
By Luke Duffy
Sacramento Kings #2: Averages three assists a night
This seems like a small and insignificant number. After all, Murray averaged only 1.5 assists per night last season, and as already mentioned, his game is predicated on moving without the ball, getting free, and letting his shots fly. How can we compare Murray to Thompson when he himself has only averaged 2.3 assists in nine seasons in the league?
That’s exactly it though. Let’s see if Murray can be a little bit different from the roaming sharpshooters who have come before him and bring something a little bit different to the table. As you can probably imagine, assists per game was another area where the Kings struggled last year, despite Sabonis being a deft passer (5.8 assists in 15 games with the Kings).
Which explains why they trended a little closer to the league average (22nd, with 23.7 assists as a team per night) here compared to some other categories. If Murray could improve his passing ability beyond what he showed in college, then it could open up the rotation to different kinds of lineups.
Davion Mitchell showed himself to be an excellent defensive guard in his own rookie campaign. He also averaged 4.2 assists a night. If Murray can use his large frame to stay in front of his man while producing dimes at an increased rate, that could bode really well for a franchise that is looking to create some sort of identity outside of Fox-ball.
Even if Sabonis and Fox are running a nice two-man game, having Mitchell and Murray around them to do a lot of the other stuff on the court would be very beneficial. But it all starts with Murray’s ability to show he can pass and create for his teammates at a level we have yet to see from him.