The Sacramento Kings are thin at the four in terms of athletes and defenders — and now they will be without their best player at both of those things to start the season.
Keegan Murray is out 4-6 weeks with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb, the team announced. This is the same injury thatJared McCain suffered in Philadelphiathis preseason, and it usually takes about a month to heal. In this case, that likely means Murray will miss about the first dozen games of the season.
Murray’s injury happened in the first half of Sacramento’s preseason game against Portland, when he did not play the second half due to a thumb injury. It likely happened on this play, when he pulled a rebound away from Shaedon Sharpe and got the shot up with Sharpe trying to swipe the ball away.
“It’s tough because Keegan has size, strength, athleticism and he shoots 40% [from 3], I think everyone is looking for that,” Kings coach Doug Christie said to media members. “We have a couple of different guys that can equal Keegan, but we don’t have Keegan, so replacing him is definitely going to be difficult.”
Murray averaged 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds a game last season for Sacramento, but more importantly he is a critical perimeter defender for a team lacking on that end of the court.
It’s not going to be easy for Christie to find a replacement for Murray. He might go small at the position with DeMar DeRozan sliding down from the three to get the start (which will mean more run for Malik Monk, Keon Ellis and rookie Nique Clifford at the three), plus Doug McDermott and Dario Saric likely see more minutes, too.