Suns Get Break Before Season Opener

Murray started all 76 games he played in for the Kings last season and averaged 12.4 points and 6.7 rebounds. Against the Suns, Murray averaged 12.8 points and 8.3 rebounds a season ago, while the Kings won the season series 3-1 over Phoenix.

Murray's injury will likely force Sacramento to go small against the Suns and shift the 6-foot-6 DeMar DeRozan to the 4 while also starting Dennis Schroder, Keon Ellis, Zach LaVine and Domantas Sabonis alongside him.

Sacramento also does not have much depth at the position with Doug McDermott, who is 6-foot-6, as its top two forward off the bench. Former Sun Dario Saric could be forced to move into a bigger role without Murray.

The Suns completely transformed their forward positions this offseason after trading away Kevin Durant, and this injury news should make for a good defensive matchup for Dillon Brooks and Ryan Dunn, who will most likely be tasked with guarding DeRozan and LaVine.

It's unclear if any Suns players will be out for the Oct. 22 season opener, but new acquisitions Jalen Green and Mark Williams have yet to play in any preseason game.

Green has been dealing with a low-grade hamstring strain, but the Suns have seemed confident he is progressing well, and Williams said he will be playing in the season opener as the Suns are following an intentional plan to hold him out of the preseason to make sure he is ready to go for the season given his injury history.

The Suns have gone 2-1 in the preseason so far and close it out on Tuesday at home against the Los Angeles Lakers after returning from China, while the Kings are currently 0-2 in preseason play with two games remaining.

Looking ahead to the season opener, Phoenix will have a good opportunity to start its new era under coach Jordan Ott off strong against the Kings without Murray, as many projections have both teams finishing just outside the play-in for the 2025-26 season.

The two teams actually closed out the 2024-25 regular season against each other with the Kings winning the finale 109-98 over Phoenix, who ended the year missing the playoffs with a 36-46 record.

Sacramento would finish as the No. 9 seed in the West with a 40-42 record and advance to the play-in after this game, where it was eliminated by the Dallas Mavericks in the opening matchup.

The Suns are 31-26 in season openers all time and 20-10 when they start the season at home.

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