Kings' Keegan Murray Receives Surprising Contract Prediction

Former Iowa Hawkeyes star Keegan Murray has not materialized like many had hoped in the early years of his NBA tenure with the Sacramento Kings, but there are still some who have high expectations for the young forward.

Bleacher Report's Dan Favale, for example, thinks the Kings will make sure they double down on Murray moving forward, predicting that Sacramento will sign him to an extension worth in the neighborhood of $30 million annually this summer.

"Keegan Murray is eligible for a rookie-scale extension this summer that can pay him up to $190.5 million over four years or $246.7 million over five years. He shouldn't get the max, but he's going to get puh-aid," Favale wrote. "... Bake in his defensive growth year-over-year, along with Sacramento's desperate need for some semblance of stability, and Murray has both the skill set and leverage necessary to eclipse the $30-million-per-year benchmark."

Murray is coming off of a very disappointing 2024-25 NBA campaign in which he averaged 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds over 34.3 minutes per game on 44.4/34.3/83.3 shooting splits. He did perform better during the second half of the season, but his shaky perimeter jumper and inability to get to the free-throw line (0.9 free-throw attempts a night) is concerning, to say the least.

The 24-year-old is definitely an impressive defender with the ability to guard multiple positions, but the Kings drafted him fourth overall in 2022 with the expectation that he would effectively be able to play both ends of the floor on a high level. That has not happened yet. At least not consistently.

Murray spent two years at Iowa between 2020-21 and 2021-22, with his best season coming during his final campaign when he registered 23.5 points per game.

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