The Sacramento Kings will be without forward Keegan Murray to start the season.
Murray suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb during the teamâ€s preseason loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday night, the team announced on Sunday afternoon. Murray is set to undergo surgery in the near future, and heâ€ll be evaluated again in four-to-six weeks.
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If Murray is out the full six weeks, he could be eligible to return for the Kings’ matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 24, the teamâ€s 18th game of the season.
Murray averaged 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds last season, his third in the league after the Kings took him with the No. 4 overall pick in 2022. Heâ€s missed just 13 games throughout his career due to injury. The former Iowa standout is entering the final year of his initial four-year, $36.3 million deal with the franchise, and heâ€s eligible for an extension this month. If Murray and the Kings canâ€t get a deal done, heâ€ll enter restricted free agency next summer.
The 25-year-old has been a reliable piece in the Kings†starting lineup over the past three seasons, and heâ€ll presumably play a big role in the teamâ€s effort to make it back to the postseason — something theyâ€ve only done once in the past two decades. The Kings went 40-42 last season and ended up firing head coach Mike Brown. The team eventually promoted interim head coach Doug Christie to replace him permanently.
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The Kings will open the regular season on Oct. 22 against the Phoenix Suns. Itâ€s unclear who will take Murrayâ€s place in the starting lineup in the meantime, though Christie experimented with rookie Maxime Raynaud at the position on Sunday, according to the Sacramento Bee. The Kings took Raynaud with the No. 42 overall pick in the draft earlier this summer out of Stanford, where he averaged 20.2 points and 10.6 rebounds per game.
“In our league, two bigs, weâ€re starting to see quite a bit, so itâ€s one of the things I think that youâ€ve got to look at,†Christie said. “Max is a talented player. This is the preseason, so to get him out there and to get him those types of reps is more what thatâ€s about. Weâ€ve got a couple other options over the next couple days that weâ€ll throw out there.â€
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