Would Kings' Trade Most Valuable Player This Offseason?

How Did We Get Here?

After he was drafted, Murray wasted no time getting acquainted with the NBA and set the record for most three-pointers made by a rookie in league history. Murray would later set his career high at 47 on 12 three-pointers against the Utah Jazz in 2023, and drop 32 on the in-state rival Golden State Warriors to lead the Kings into the second round of the Play-In Tournament. Murray’s shot slipped each year after his rookie season, but his improvements on defense kept most worries at bay. 

Fast-forward to today, Murray is one of the best wing defenders in the league, but his shooting still hasn’t returned to his rookie or even sophomore year levels. Murray is still capable of scoring in other ways; however, he isn’t exactly a player you want to be on the ball all the time. Flashes aren’t enough when it comes to deciding who (other than the lead guard) is going to be initiating the offense, which is why it was so important that Murray was able to space the floor. 

Murray shot 34% from three last season and is now down to just 28% this year. That simply isn’t good enough for a player the Kings looked at as their best shooter for years. There’s no doubt that Murray is still a valuable player, but the Kings would be remiss not to think about their future if a team makes a godfather offer for their former lottery pick. 

An Offer You Cannot Refuse

It is incredibly unlikely that the Kings would get enough value in return for Murray in the form of current players, but draft pick(s) are a different story. Even with a historically great draft as we have for 2026, there’s no promise that any player will be better than someone like Keegan. Despite his shortcomings, Murray is a bona fide NBA starter, and that isn’t as easy to come by as you may think. It’s somewhat rare to find quality rotation players, let alone starters, outside of the lottery, and that leads us to the kind of offer that the Kings may actually consider. 

In the clip from Sactown 1140, Dave talks about moving Keegan for a top-10 pick from the Milwaukee Bucks, which is an interesting thought. Say the Bucks end up with the 10th pick, according to NoCeilingsNBA’s big board that would give the Kings the option of players like Labaron Philon Jr., Yaxel Lendeborg, Koa Peat, or maybe even Darius Acuff Jr. or Jayden Quaintance. There’s no telling exactly who will be available at pick 10, but those are some really interesting names for Sacramento. 

The other piece of this is salary matching. The Bucks would need to send out players to get any trade done, and the Kings would demand either expiring money or young players in any trade, or both. Looking at Milwaukee’s roster currently and all the players who have options for next year, the only reasonable trade would be Kyle Kuzma and Ryan Rollins for Murray. This is just an example, but this is the kind of offer the Kings should probably take if it’s on the board. 

An Offer You Could, and Should, Refuse

If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think the aforementioned Bucks’ offer is realistic. If the Kings are going to get a top-10 pick back for Murray, they’re likely not getting a young player like Rollins along with it. Could they get a young player and a pick in the 20s? Sure, but that’s where it starts to make more sense to keep Murray. Players drafted at or after pick 20 are very rarely as impactful as Murray is, even if his shot never gets back to where it was.

The other point to note is that Murray has a lot more value for a better team that just needs a wing defender to push them into contention. Most of those teams, other than Milwaukee, are not going to be picking in the top 10 and maybe not even in the top 20. In my opinion, it would be best for Sacramento to hang on to Murray unless a team offers a top-10 pick with either young players, expiring salary, or a player that only has one more year remaining on their deal. I don’t believe those types of offers will materialize for someone like Murray, but you never know.