Kings add Keegan Murray in 2022 NBA Draft, leave plenty of work ahead

With the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, the Sacramento Kings selected Iowa’s Keegan Murray Thursday night. The emotions flooding out of the fan base through social media ranged from anger to confusion to celebration, depending on the person.

First and foremost, Murray should be celebrated. He is a very good basketball player who should be a fixture in Sacramento for the next decade. His improvement from one year to the next at Iowa was stunning and he brings a combination of high end efficiency of the offense and switchability on the defensive end.

Murray might be the most complete prospect from the 2022 NBA Draft class and his fit in Sacramento is about as good as it gets. He can space the floor with his 3-point shooting. He can score in the post. He can guard multiple positions and even block shots at a reasonable rate.

Most of what Murray does should translate to the next level, although it’s unlikely that he will see the same type of raw numbers that his usage rate allowed during his time at the NCAA level.

“I think at the end of the day, after exploring all of our options, we felt extremely comfortable that the best player available was Keegan Murray and we are extremely excited to welcome Keegan to the Kings family,” general manager Monte McNair said in a late night press conference.

McNair walked into the draft armed with a major asset. The Kings shopped the pick all the way up until the final moments, and in the end, they chose a safe play.

No trade up. No trade down. No trade out. No Jaden Ivey.

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McNair found a future starter in Murray, whether it’s this year or next. Either way, the soon-to-be 22-year-old should be a fixture in the Sacramento rotation for a long time.

Murray is in the mold of Harrison Barnes. Barring any major setback, he is a player that in his prime should eat 30 plus minutes per game and perform at a high level. Whether he can be an All-Star or reach heights above that is unknown, but not expected.

If Sacramento didn’t draft Murray, he likely would have gone with the No. 5 or No. 6 overall pick. He can be considered a reach at No. 4 due to the potential of Ivey, but McNair selected a really good player who is as close to a sure thing as you are going to find in this draft class. Murray also fits the current roster perfectly, versus a higher ceiling, lower floor player like Ivey who could have had issues meshing with De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.

Regardless of the draft process, which saw Murray and just one other top ten selection coming through Sacramento, McNair landed his guy. But now there is a lot of work to do.

During his press conference, McNair refuted reports that there is a directive from ownership that the Kings find a way to snap their 16-year playoff drought this season.

“There is no mandate,” McNair said. “We’ve been very clear what our goal is. We want to win. We want to make the playoffs and we want to continue to stay there. But there’s no mandate to do so. My job is to build, as I’ve said, the best team that’s going to take the court this year and for years to come. So I think Keegan is exactly that player.”

Murray is just the first piece to what should be an overhaul to the Kings’ current roster. They have short term and long term needs all up and down their roster. While selecting Murray fills at least one of those needs, the rest of Sacramento’s night was less than enthralling.

McNair came into the day with two second round selections at picks No. 37 and No. 49. He traded away 49 early in the day for the rights to a 26-year-old European prospect Sasha Vezenkov and cash considerations.

More than once McNair was asked whether Vezenkov, who was an All-EuroLeague first-team selection this season, would join the Kings this season or not. McNair dodged the question each time it was brought to the forefront.

“The fact that when our scouting department, our analytics, our strategy group, our intel -- all of these things line up and he’s another guy that it did for,” McNair said after describing the 6-foot-9 forward. “So being able to acquire his rights, we’ll see what we do moving forward. It’s just another guy that we’re excited to welcome to the Kings.”

The film on Vezenkov is impressive. He’s a combo forward who can shoot the ball from long range and he appears to have a really good feel for the game. If they can pry him out of his contract with Olympiacos, they may have found another piece to the puzzle.

As draft night wore on and the Kings’ pick at No. 37 approached, Jaden Hardy of the G League Ignite tumbled down the draft board. He was available at the Kings’ selection, but McNair made the decision to trade the pick to the Dallas Mavericks for two future second rounders, reportedly in 2024 and 2028.

Hardy has a ton of potential, but for whatever reason, the Kings valued long term draft capital more.

The Kings capped off the night by reportedly signing undrafted Alabama guard Keon Ellis to a two-way contract and Jeriah Horne out of Tulsa to an unspecified contract.

Ellis, 22, averaged 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.9 steals last season in the SEC. Ellis is considered an elite defender with potential to develop into a strong 3-and-D. At the combine, Ellis measured in at 6-foot-4.75 in shoes and 167 pounds. He posted a 6-foot-8.5 wingspan and a max vertical of 35.5 inches.

Horne is a 6-foot-7, 220 pound forward that bounced all over the place during his time at the NCAA. The senior guard began his career at Nebraska, transferred to Tulsa during his sophomore season, spent a year at Colorado and then returned to Tulsa for one more year.

The 24-year-old averaged 16.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and shot 41.5 percent from long range in his final NCAA season.

Analysis

I've never been a fan of draft grades, especially when we are dealing with 18-22 year-old athletes that are stepping into the new world of the NBA. Saying that, it feels like the Kings should have done more on draft night to address some of the remaining holes in their roster.

It takes two to tango, so it is possible that McNair just didn't have the ammunition to get anything substantial done, but trading away an early second round selection when the youngest player on the roster is Murray, who will be 22 before the season begins, is an interesting strategy.

With Murray and two undrafted free agents in tow, McNair now enters the difficult part of the offseason. His team wasn’t one rotational player away from a potential playoff contender heading into draft night. They may not have been four rotational players away.

There is a tremendous amount of work ahead for the Kings if they have any hope of snapping their playoff drought. Sacramento isn’t a hotbed for free agents and even if it was, the Kings have limited resources to offer and the free agent class isn’t great. McNair will need to be aggressive on the trade market and hope that he finds a partner willing to play ball.

Murray is a solid addition. McNair's first three drafts have all been solid. The entire night feels like a missed opportunity to add more than just one rotational piece. If there is a Western Conference arms race for the last remaining playoff or play-in spots, the Kings are starting a lap down as they enter the second phase of the offseason.

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