Keegan Murray

[EvanZ]

While it's probably less likely an older player in today's game becomes a star we can't act as if it never happens, when we've clearly seen it before. The entire Warriors core for one all came out at 21 or older. Can we all agree that Steph, Draymond and Klay have improved significantly? I think so lol. Someone like Bane, a 4-year senior, was productive every year in college and has continued to improve fairly dramatically.

I'd say what Keegan has going for him is that he was extremely productive his Freshman season, although very few noticed it (who started this thread, oh right, it was me). And he basically repeated that productivity with more minutes his Sophomore season. And in the sample we have right now in SL he has once again been extremely productive. We have to be open to the possibility that Keegan is just a super productive player that is going to succeed despite our age concerns (which most of the time are justified imo).

I'm not quite ready to put a cap on his ceiling based on what I've seen.

[EvanZ]

We need a thread about this dude. He's an older Freshman coming off the bench, but productive as all hell and has size. Has a twin brother that isn't playing as much.

Read on Twitter

Literally Jan '21 I pointed out Keegan was old.

[SeattleJazzFan]

Another efficient 20 pt game. 21 and 10 in 23 minutes. He’s so good, when he plays great nobody cares because it’s just what he does every game.

[clyde21]

he can score efficiently that's not and never been the problem, still can't pass and has very little playmaking juice tho and that is also another reason he has a hard ceiling on his impact.

[City of Trees]

Murray was talking about practice and how he goes 100% all the time which makes the games feel slower to him. You can really see his poise. It was the first time I felt like the Kings made the right decision taking him over Ivey. Ivey still might become the better player but Murray does seem like the perfect pick

Lotta people think that you have to be 19 coming in or you have a low ceiling, but how old was Curry when he was a rook? Dude's one of the GOATs now.

Fans fall victim to writing off every "old" high lottery pick. Damian Lillard was 22 years old during his rookie season.

[Big J]

he can score efficiently that's not and never been the problem, still can't pass and has very little playmaking juice tho and that is also another reason he has a hard ceiling on his impact.

Dirk couldn't pass, yet his teams won 60+ games every year. Tatum didn't become much of a playmaker until this year either. Melo...

[The-Power]

he can score efficiently that's not and never been the problem, still can't pass and has very little playmaking juice tho and that is also another reason he has a hard ceiling on his impact.

Depends on what a ‘hard ceiling’ means. Being a superstar? Yeah, that's very unlikely. But if he can be an elite shooter, an elite play finisher, and a versatile plus defender (all of which are in play) – that could make him the second best player on a contender and low-level All-Star even if he never develops into more of a playmaker or one-on-one perimeter creator. That's a solid ceiling in addition to his elite floor.

[EvanZ]

He can better than Harrison Barnes.

[Big J]

He can better than Harrison Barnes.

Barnes isn't even an efficient scorer.

[clyde21]

i almost feel like Keeg should be playing the 2 for Sac next to Fox. don't like him at the pivot defensively and not enough playmaking at the 4 for today's NBA. but he has enough mobility and the perimeter skills to be an off-ball guard and brings in some size to that backcourt which is tiny between Fox, Monk and Davion.

Fox / Mitchell
Keeg / Monk
Barnes / Huerter
Sabonis
Holmes

[Adg1987]

i almost feel like Keeg should be playing the 2 for Sac next to Fox. don't like him at the pivot defensively and not enough playmaking at the 4 for today's NBA. but he has enough mobility and the perimeter skills to be an off-ball guard and brings in some size to that backcourt which is tiny between Fox, Monk and Davion.

Fox / Mitchell
Keeg / Monk
Barnes / Huerter
Sabonis
Holmes

No chance he plays 2 and no chance that is ever a lineup seen on the floor for the Kings. .001% chance because you can never say never, but I would be willing to bet on it

[clyde21]

i almost feel like Keeg should be playing the 2 for Sac next to Fox. don't like him at the pivot defensively and not enough playmaking at the 4 for today's NBA. but he has enough mobility and the perimeter skills to be an off-ball guard and brings in some size to that backcourt which is tiny between Fox, Monk and Davion.

Fox / Mitchell
Keeg / Monk
Barnes / Huerter
Sabonis
Holmes

No chance he plays 2 and no chance that is ever a lineup seen on the floor for the Kings. .001% chance because you can never say never, but I would be willing to bet on it

i'm saying that's what they should do, not what they will do.

[Big J]

That’s like when PJ Carlesimo tried putting KD at the 2 when he was a rookie and it failed miserably.

[SeattleJazzFan]

he can score efficiently that's not and never been the problem, still can't pass and has very little playmaking juice tho and that is also another reason he has a hard ceiling on his impact.

"still" can't pass. it has been three months since the cbb season ended.

doubling down on this silly idea that a dude with perhaps the best work ethic in the draft can't improve.

[clyde21]

he can score efficiently that's not and never been the problem, still can't pass and has very little playmaking juice tho and that is also another reason he has a hard ceiling on his impact.

"still" can't pass. it has been three months since the cbb season ended.

doubling down on this silly idea that a dude with perhaps the best work ethic in the draft can't improve.

then we can re-eval when that happens, until then the passing chops are nonexistent and there are questions defensively if he can be the pivot.

[vincecarter4pres]

How do we feel about Keegan now? He had a really promising rookie season, but seems to be regressing since.

[The-Power]

How do we feel about Keegan now? He had a really promising rookie season, but seems to be regressing since.

Still pretty fine. Looks like the 4th or 5th best player on a contender; but the hopes of him becoming much more than that are obviously slowly fading.

I don't think he's regressing as much as he's not being put in an ideal role. He's the go-to POA defender for the Kings against pretty much every perimeter star from what I've seen. That brings quite a bit of value but on an otherwise defensively challenged team, defending the best player night in and night out can easily disrupt your offensive game – as can low offensive usage for shooters.

He might not be the shooter he promised to be during his Rookie contract and that chips away at his value. But I still don't see a team in the NBA that wouldn't be happy to have him on their roster and play him extended minutes.

edit: Looking at the draft, I'd draft him no higher than 4th and still definitely in the lottery no matter what in a re-draft. Certainly not looking like the best value for when he was picked but well within reason even if your opinion of him is on the lower end of the spectrum.

[clyde21]

How do we feel about Keegan now? He had a really promising rookie season, but seems to be regressing since.

I mean, he was what he was...a guy that was already near his ceiling as a player, and was already approaching his prime coming out of college (was gonna be a 23 yr old rook). that's why he should've never went that high, granted that class had a big drop off after the top 3.