Doug Christie Gets Honest About Next Steps After Keegan Murray's Surgery

The timing isn't great with the season right around the corner, but it could certainly be worse. The good news is that there are still games and practices left before the season gets underway, giving Christie and the coaching staff time to experiment as mentioned above. When asked if he had anything specific in mind, Christie explained that there were a few different directions they could go.

"I think that you get a look at our roster you can kind of get some ideas," Christie said. "There's smaller size, there's bigger size, there's defense, there's rebounding. And we'll see where we're at when it's all said and done."

Some options that immediately stand out are starting Keon Ellis at the two and shifting Zach LaVine to the three and DeMar DeRozan to the four. Or they could go for the bigger options of either Isaac Jones or Dario Saric. Another option is the Kings can go all-in on Nique Clifford, who may have the closest skillset to Murray in terms of size and ability, albeit with a little less length and wingspan.

Christie was also asked about how he would replace Murray's defensive abilities, as he's grown into the team's best wing defender and is really the only player on the team with the combination of size and defense on the wings.

"It's tough, because Keegan has size, strength, athleticism, and he shoots 40%. I think everyone is looking for that," Christie said. "We have a couple different guys that can maybe equal Keegan, but we don't have Keegan. Replacing it is definitely difficult, but guys have other strengths."

It was such a clear problem coming into the season, even from the perspective of who would back up Murray on the bench, let alone replace him due to injury. Of all the players on the team, Murray is the one who stands out the most with a skillset that can't be replicated by someone else singlehandedly. Domantas Sabonis is a very close second, but Murray's combination of defense and offense gives him the slight edge, given the reserve options for the two starters.

The Kings weren't expected to achieve much this season, but there was excitement building after a productive training camp. This definitely puts a damper on any hopes that might have grown for fans. Hopefully, Murray makes a quick recovery and gets back on the court sooner rather than later.