Who is Keegan Murray? A look at the newest King and ‘the best two-way player in the draft’
Keegan Murray’s path to the NBA was not a typical one.
Murray, 21, was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the No. 4 pick in the NBA draft on Thursday night. The move made waves around the league. Some Kings fans loved the pick of the 6-foot-8 forward from the University of Iowa, while others weren’t the biggest fan of it.
In an interview with Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports earlier this week, Murray discussed his usual path to the NBA.
“I only had one offer after high school and it was from Western Illinois,” Murray told Haynes. “The coach left and most of their team left to the transfer portal. So for me, I was gonna go to a junior college in Iowa. I was pretty much set on it. And then my dad came up with the idea of going to a post-grad school. I had no idea about it. I didn’t want to go because it was down in Florida and I felt like it was the same opportunity that I would have had with JUCO. So my dad ended up convincing me that this is probably the best decision to have another year to grow up because I was a late bloomer. I grew 8 inches from my sophomore year to senior year of high school. So it was like another year for my body to grow and not have a year of college eligibility taken off.”
In high school, Murray was under 6-foot in his sophomore year, but had a huge growth spurt heading into his senior year of high school, he told Haynes.
After Murray graduated from Prairie High School in 2019, he spent a postgraduate year at DME Sports Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida. His one scholarship offer came from the University of Iowa. Murray grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
After only starting four games during the 2020-21 season, Murray returned to Iowa for his sophomore season and averaged 23.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 1.9 blocks per game and shot 39.8% from 3-point range. Murray was named a consensus first-team All-American.
Kennington Lloyd Smith ll, who covers the Hawkeyes for the Des Moines Register, said in an interview with The Bee that Murray is an ideal addition on both ends of the floor.
“The Kings are getting perhaps the best two-way player in the draft,” He said. “The nation’s leader in points and the third-highest defensive efficiency rating in the Big Ten. He’ll be a good addition to the Kings as someone who can fill any role without ego. A solid building piece for Mike Brown.”
He added that Murray has a similar personality to Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Lenoard.
“Personality-wise, he’s very even-keel but doesn’t lack for confidence at all,” Lloyd Smith ll said. “He’s kind of like a Kawhi in that he doesn’t show a lot of personality often, but he’s way more personable and talkative than Kawhi is.”
Murray is expected to make an impact right away for the Kings. His versatility should fit with a Kings team trying to build around De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
“I feel I can definitely contribute right away, especially because teams pretty much have stars they’re trying to build it around,” Murray said to Haynes. “I don’t have to have the ball in my hands to be successful. I can do different things, but if you need me to score, I can put the ball in the basket. I feel like I can guard multiple positions and be at different places on offense. I definitely think that’ll help me from Day 1.”
This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 6:28 PM.