Keegan “KEEGAN MURRAY” Murray
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
This is why we don't need another max player. Keegan has already made Huerter and Barnes redundant within the offense which in turn has put more attention on their defensive limitations. We'll have to see if Monk has outplayed whatever contact we can offer him. If we are able to keep him, there aren't enough shots left to support a LaVine, Siakam, or comparable high usage scorer.
Personally I think we need to unload Barnes, Huerter, and Lyles ASAP and not take back any big contracts in return because we'll need that cap space (just over 40 million) to keep our core group together. We should be filling in around Fox, Murray, Sabonis, and Monk with affordable defensive roleplayers on mid level deals.
Personally I think we need to unload Barnes, Huerter, and Lyles ASAP and not take back any big contracts in return because we'll need that cap space (just over 40 million) to keep our core group together. We should be filling in around Fox, Murray, Sabonis, and Monk with affordable defensive roleplayers on mid level deals.
I go back and forth on this. Will our top end talent (Fox Domas Keegan and probably Monk) surrounded by plus defenders be enough to compete against Claw/PG/Harden Joker/jamal/MPJ/AG Chet/Shai/JDub etc? Or do we just to overwhelm on offense and be passable on defense (we played pretty good defense overall in the playoffs).
Then the other thing I ask is, what makes a very good defensive team? I asked in the nba thread why a team like the Nets are bad defensively with an elite defender (Bridges) plus defender (DFS) a rim protector (Claxton) and 3 good defenders ( cam, Royce and Dennis smith jr) if we add 2 good defenders at the 2 and 4 will we be a top 12 defense? Can our offense return to top 3?
Then the other thing I ask is, what makes a very good defensive team? I asked in the nba thread why a team like the Nets are bad defensively with an elite defender (Bridges) plus defender (DFS) a rim protector (Claxton) and 3 good defenders ( cam, Royce and Dennis smith jr) if we add 2 good defenders at the 2 and 4 will we be a top 12 defense? Can our offense return to top 3?
JTA on Keegan
"I think he can be a helluva player in this league; he's a star already," Juan said. "47 is really hard to do in any league. I don't think I've ever dropped 47 in any game... that was impressive. I actually wanted him to break the [three-point] record that night, for his own reasons, but even for selfish reasons. I was there when Stephen Curry broke the three-point record, I was LeBron [James] teammate when he broke the scoring record, and it would've been pretty cool to say 'I was Keegan Murray's teammate when he broke the three-pointers made in a game record'... I'm blessed to play with De'Aaron Fox and play with young talent like Keegan Murray. It's delightful to be a part of."
"I think he can be a helluva player in this league; he's a star already," Juan said. "47 is really hard to do in any league. I don't think I've ever dropped 47 in any game... that was impressive. I actually wanted him to break the [three-point] record that night, for his own reasons, but even for selfish reasons. I was there when Stephen Curry broke the three-point record, I was LeBron [James] teammate when he broke the scoring record, and it would've been pretty cool to say 'I was Keegan Murray's teammate when he broke the three-pointers made in a game record'... I'm blessed to play with De'Aaron Fox and play with young talent like Keegan Murray. It's delightful to be a part of."
I think Lyles should stay. He has excellent +/- this season (it's skewed by him not playing early in the season when Fox was out as well), had modest positive one last season and excellent in the PO series. Trey is shooting 40% from outside and solid defensively. His salary is less than 6% of the cap and will be even lower percentage next season. Lyles looks like he can be a good top-8 in playoffs rotation.
The problem is we have 3 guys who are more or less redundant. Barnes (17 million), Lyles (8 million), and Vezenkov (6.3 million). Paying and rostering all three of these guys is hurting us because it means we're not paying or playing a dynamic defender at the PF spot. I don't have a problem with Lyles specifically, I just think the roster isn't balanced very well right now and he might have decent trade value to other teams in the league which don't have the same surplus of stretch 4s that we have.
From the Slater article on Keegan. He also said that the kings see Fox Sabonis and Murray as the big three now and in the future. Looking for pieces around them. Also mentioned they admire the slow team building path the Nuggets took. Probably see Monte and Wes do the same
“Murray, per Synergy Sports Technology, has only given up 28 points in 47 isolation situations this season, placing him in the 91st percentile. The efficiency against him ticks up in pick-and-roll situations, but it’s still under a point per possession faced. He needs to get more adept navigating screens and guarding in traffic, but one Kings staffer suggested the possibility he could become an All-Defense type wing by the time his prime arrives.”
“Murray, per Synergy Sports Technology, has only given up 28 points in 47 isolation situations this season, placing him in the 91st percentile. The efficiency against him ticks up in pick-and-roll situations, but it’s still under a point per possession faced. He needs to get more adept navigating screens and guarding in traffic, but one Kings staffer suggested the possibility he could become an All-Defense type wing by the time his prime arrives.”
In January, 11 games:
18 PPG
6.1 RPG
1.5 APG
61.2% TS (!!!)
39.1% from 3 (5.8 3PA/game)
19.5% USG
Just a MPJ offensive split, but he's adding excellent, verging on elite, defense with it. Even if he just stopped exactly where he is now, in terms of development, he's a $100 mil player. But I think his growth curve is just beginning.
18 PPG
6.1 RPG
1.5 APG
61.2% TS (!!!)
39.1% from 3 (5.8 3PA/game)
19.5% USG
Just a MPJ offensive split, but he's adding excellent, verging on elite, defense with it. Even if he just stopped exactly where he is now, in terms of development, he's a $100 mil player. But I think his growth curve is just beginning.