Should the Sacramento Kings Extend Keegan Murray’s Contract or Wait? | Locked On Kings

Should the Sacramento Kings Extend Keegan Murray’s Contract or Wait? | Locked On Kings

New Sacramento Kings general manager Scott Perry has a long list of tasks to accomplish this off seasonason. One of which is deciding what to do about Keegan Murray’s contract situation. Do the Kings look to extend Keegan this summer or do they play the long game and risk losing him in free agency? We discuss right here on Locked on Kicks. You are Locked on Kings, your daily Sacramento Kings podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. And now, ladies and gentlemen, it is that time. Time for another episode of Locked on Kings. Hello and welcome into Locked on Kings, your podcast hub for Sacramento Kings coverage all offseason long. Today’s episode is brought to you by Monarch Money. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off of your first year. My name is Matt George. I have the privilege of being your host here. I’m a Sacramento sports anchor and reporter for ABC 10 News. And I have been a humongous Keegan Murray fan since the Sacramento Kings moved up to the fourth pick in the draft a handful of years ago and selected Keegan Murray over Jaden Ivy. For those of you who have been listening to the podcast since that time, you know about how at this time that year, I was ranting and raving about Keegan, who I believed Keegan could be, his future and his fit with the Sacramento Kings. I was very happy when the Kings elected to draft him with that selection. And over the course of his first three seasons in the NBA, we’ve certainly seen highs from him uh breaking the threepoint shooting record as a rookie to lows and frustrations like his three-point shooting for a good half of last season. Keegan in many ways is still trying to find his own way. He’s developed tremendously as a rebounder, developed tremendously as a defender, is not where the Sacramento Kings want or were hoping he could be as a potential scoring option. All of these things that new Kings general manager Scott Perry has to take into account when evaluating, just like everybody else on this roster, Keegan’s future with this team. But what sets Keegan apart from the majority of the rest of the roster is that the Kings have contractual control over Keegan because he is still on his rookie deal. They will have his rights to if he were to go and and and test free agency. If the Sacramento Kings were to not issue him an extension this summer beforehand, then he would become a what’s called a restricted free agent, which means the Sacramento Kings would have the ability to match any offer that any other team made to Keegan that Keegan agreed to, the Kings could match it and basically force Keegan to return. It’s an incentive in the CBA to help teams retain their talent that they’ve drafted for a longer period of time and prevent smaller market teams like Sacramento from losing their talent to major more appealing markets that you could either could offer more money or could offer more in the lifestyle department or just be a little more appealing to most if not every single uh uh player. But here’s Keegan Murray’s contract situation. Currently, he has one year left on his rookie scale deal. He’s going to be paid $1.1 million next season. Up until this point, Keegan has not made more than $10 million a year. That’s pretty nuts considering his value and how he’s pretty much he hasn’t been a day one starter. He eased his way into the starting lineup his first season, which was of course the playoff season, but he quickly established himself as a starter here in Sacramento. So, there’s only two ways that this entire Keegan Murray contract saga plays out. You either extend him slashsign him to a new new deal or you trade him away. You do not let the man walk. That’s just not in the realm of possibility for Scott Perry. You just absolutely cannot do that. So, you either extend him slashsign him to a new deal or you trade him. Now, you do not have to make that decision this summer. You can wait and make that decision later on. That’s the long game. We’re going to start by talking about the short game. Talking about if Scott Perry would want to try and extend Keegan, get him under long-term control right away. That being one of the first moves that Perry makes as a general manager. But if we’re looking at contract extensions and negotiations, now it’s up to the Sacramento Kings to negotiate that contract and the contract’s value and Keegan Murray’s value between themselves and Keegan’s people, right? And they can use other contracts around the league as kind of a ballpark estimate to help them set the market. But this is very different from playing the long game where they could quite literally have other teams set the market for them. And again, they have the opportunity to match. We’ll talk about that a little bit later on. So, let’s look at just some contracts. I’m going through and I’m looking at a lot of forward slash like tall wing contracts that we can use as kind of a ballpark understanding and idea of how much money Keegan Murray can make. Then I will share with you my range of like the contract that I think he is is worth. And I’ll share with you like the max deal that I would be willing to give Keegan Murray at this point in his career if I was Scott Perry. Again, this is coming from someone who’s very high on Keegan Murray, still believes in Keegan Murray. Do I think he’ll be the potential all-star that the Sacramento Kings hope that he could be when they drafted him? No, I don’t think so. I don’t think Keegan Murray is going to be an all-star player. But I do think in addition to his rebounding still being really really good, his defense being really really good, I do think his offense can still improve and take another step forward to where he can be more of a featured scorer in the Sacramento Kings offense than he’s really been to any point in his career so far. So looking at other contracts, these aren’t onetoone comparisons, but just giving you a ballpark idea, right? Like Dorian Finny Smith, for example, Dorian Finny Smith signed a four-year $55 million deal. Now, this is on the really, really low end. I bring this contract up because I think we all believe Keegan Murray is better than Dorian Finny Smith. One, or we also have to remember, too, like the CBA and and and and the the salary cap is going up because of the new uh TV deal that’s still paying off. So yesterday’s money is not tomorrow’s money, if that makes sense. Essentially, the price tag is going to go up for players because the revenue for the league is going up and the salary cap is going up. So Dorian Finny Smith, like a four-year $55 million deal, like Keegan laughs at something like that. So he’s not in that range. Draymond Green last season signed or last summer signed a 4-year $100 million deal. Easy math. That’s $25 million a year. Okay, Draymond is a multi-time champion, an established veteran, a defensive player of the year contender, but on the older side, has had more success and is more established than Keegan Murray. So, is Keegan Murray now then or therefore not a $25 million per year player because he doesn’t live up to Draymond Green. Tobias Harris a 2-year on a two-year $52 million deal. So, a little bit over like in the $26 million per year range. So, higher than what Draymond Green is making. Well, I would argue that as good of a career as Tobias Harris has had right now. Keegan Murray, I think, is a better player than Tobias Harris. I’d rather have Keegan Murray than Tobias Harris. Tobias might be a more established scorer, but I think Keegan beats him in almost every other area. So, that that kind of gives you an idea. Jonathan Isaac in Orlando signed a 4-year $59 million deal. And Jonathan Isaac is a really, really good player. Has dealt with injury issues, but four years 59 million, that’s not nearly enough for Keegan Murray, so it’s going to be higher than that. Then two contracts that I think are really, really interesting to look at. These are both rookie extension contracts. Jaden McDaniels signed a five-year $131 million rookie extension. It’s a big deal. Now, Jaden McDaniels on a winning team, on a successful team, an established really, really good defender. Is Keegan Murray a better player than Jaden McDaniels? Is he a more winning player than Jaden McDaniels? I’ll let you be the judge of that. But five years, $131 million. Then there’s Michael Porter Jr’s contract, which is a contract that I think right now the Denver Nuggets are actively regretting. It’s a contract that they have to figure out what to do with this summer, whether they’re going to try desperately to move it to kind of free up their financial situation because they are in a tough financial spot right now after being eliminated from the playoffs by OKC a couple nights ago. Michael Porter Jr. a five-year $179 million rookie extension. Keegan’s not getting that kind of money. Now, I am of the belief that Keegan Murray can be for a winning team what Michael Porter Jr. was for the Denver Nuggets when they won a championship. I think Keegan Murray’s a better defender. I think Keegan Murray’s a better rebounder. Michael Porter Jr. probably a better overall scoreer, but Michael Porter Jr.’s are are also a, let’s put it this way, he has an injury history. He’s not as reliable as we believe Keegan Marie to be. That being said, again, the Denver Nuggets are actively regretting this contract extension. So, the Sacramento Kings should not be even like if if the if Keegan’s people bring up Michael Porter Jr.’s contract, the Sacramento Kings can not necessarily laugh it off, but go, “Yeah, we’re we’re already dealing with our own financial ramifications here with Sabonis and and uh Zack Lavine.” Like, we’re that that’s not in the ballpark. Oh, what is in my opinion if the Sacramento Kings were to issue Keegan Murray an extension this summer? What is my range for what I’d be comfortable if I were Scott Perry? What would I offer? Just looking at the market, this is a number that I’ve come up with. I think a range of a 5-year contract extension from 120 million total to $130 million total. That’s a range of between 24 to$26 million a year. I feel pretty comfortable and confident in those numbers and that being what Keegan Murray’s range will be. Keegan Murray is not a $30 million per year player. He’s not. Offensively, he hasn’t gotten there. Now, if he were a worse defender, a worse rebounder, but averaged 18 plus points per game, yeah, maybe he could start to demand that 30 million because this is a scoring league. But that’s not him. He hasn’t been that. And I think I hope Keegan and his camp will also be realistic to who they are as a player. So, I think the 26 to 20 or excuse me, 24 to$ 26 million a year range over a fiveyear deal, I think, is very reasonable for Keegan Murray. Again, the salary cap is going up, so the contracts are going to get a little bit richer. That a 24 to $26 million per year contract with the the the the salary cap going up is the equivalent to like a year ago a 23 to $25 million or 22 to$24 million range. That’s just inflation, right? So, I think that’s a good range. the max that I would willing to be that I would be willing to offer that I would kind of hold to before it starts getting uncomfortable or I start feeling like I might regret this is a fiveyear $140 million deal which is $28 million a year. Now, of course, it doesn’t always it’s not always even every single year with the contract extensions. You can frontload the contracts because um or or you can backload the contracts if you want to. The Kings would probably try and backload considering how much money is on their books right now. But we’re talking $28 million a year for Keegan Murray is about the max the cap of what I’m comfortable with. So if you were trying to secure Keegan Well, first and foremost, you tell me, would you try and get this done now this summer? Get it out of the way, secure Keegan going forward, especially if you believe Keegan’s part of your future, which I don’t know why the Sacramento Kings and Scott Perry wouldn’t feel that way. Or do you wait and play the long game? We’ll talk about what the long game looks like here in the next segment. If you do want to get this extension done, what’s your range? How much money would you be comfortable paying Keegan Murray per year? Hit me up on Twitter, Matt George Sack. Email me matte [email protected]. Leave your thoughts in the YouTube comment section down below. Like I said at the top of the show, So, what if the Sacramento Kings decide to play the long game with Keegan Murray? They don’t get a contract extension done this summer. They say, “You know what? We are going to see what you do next season, Keegan, before we make a decision on your future and specifically how much we are willing to pay you.” There’s pros and cons. There’s risks and rewards to this. There, let’s talk about some of the risks first. There’s, of course, the risk of another team setting the price, right? Right now, it’s only you and Keegan negotiating. Nobody else is involved. If the Kings try to negotiate a contract extension, right now it’s just between the Kings and Keegan’s camp. That’s it. If you wait till free agency next summer with him being a restricted free agent, now everybody else is involved. And if Keegan can’t get out of you what he wants, but maybe another team will swoop in and offer it, then you’re forced into a tough decision of do I let him go, which should never be an option for the Sacramento Kings. The Kings cannot afford to let a player of Keegan’s caliber and especially position go for nothing or am I forced to match the price that is being set for me? Funny enough, that’s what the Sacramento Kings did to Chicago to the Chicago Bulls with Zack Lavine. The Kings initially made a offer to Zack Lavine when he was a restricted free agent that the Bulls were forced to match to bring him back. So, you lose a little bit of your control. There’s also the risk of a good season from Keegan raising his price. Let’s say he suddenly has an explosive offensive season. Let’s say he gets back to shooting over 40% from three-point range. Let’s say all of a sudden he makes this offensive jump to 17 18 points per game. Hey, suddenly now he might be a $30 million per year player or a team out there might be willing to offer $30 million for Keegan. Remember, Keegan is a hot commodity in the NBA. I’m not just talking about him personally as a player. I’m talking about his archetype. Three and D forwards who are versatile defenders, can play and defend multiple positions, can space the floor and knock down the three at a high clip, plus rebound the basketball. Those players are coveted around the league. The Oklahoma City Thunder roster is jam-packed with players like that. Why do you think they’re so successful? Right. Keegan Murray is a hot commodity. he will have great value around the league. Do you want to allow another team to dictate that value, especially if Keegan makes a big jump in his fourth season? Now, there’s also on the flip side of that, there’s the potential reward of if Keegan Murray has a bad season, then his price could go down a little bit and could be less than what you would offer this summer. However, I would argue that that’s not a good reward because if Keegan Murray’s having a bad season, the Sacramento Kings are probably a bad team. And they might be a bad team anyway, but they they’ll be significantly worse. If the Kings go through what I believe next season to be a struggle where they’re probably mid and and competing for a playing spot again and Keegan Murray has another down year, it’s not going to be a whole lot to be excited about or hopeful about or optimistic about again for this Kings team. Keegan Murray is one of the main reasons to watch if you’re a Sacramento Kings fan next season, at least right now before we know how the rest of this offseason will play out. I’m wondering if this is the better or more appealing route though, the long game. If that’s the more appealing route for Scott Perry because he is in very much in a evaluation period. This is one of his first I mean the the first major decision that he has to make involves like Demard Roen and if you’re able to trade him and what kind of value you can get for him. Of course, he has decisions to make on how aggressively he tries to shop Sabonis and Lavine, if at all. But this Keegan Murray decision is one of the biggest decisions that he has to make. And it might be in his best interest, considering where the Sacramento Kings are at and the likelihood of them being a super competitive team next season being really low. It might be in the best interest of Perry to have Keegan and Keon and other guys kind of go into a prove it year. Hey, I know what you were able to do to this point. I’ve seen your tape. I appreciate the work that you can do. I’m happy to have you on your team, but when it comes to the long-term future of the Kings, I don’t plan on having this roster the same way that it is for a long period of time. So, prove it to me a little bit. Now, I personally, you know how I feel about Keegan Murray. I would try and get this deal done immediately. I’m I I think Keegan has to be a part of your future. I think Keegan is well, let’s put it this way. Keegan Murray has a tremendous amount of power right now as long as the Sacramento Kings have no depth at his position. Keegan Murray is the type of player that historically the Sacramento Kings franchise has struggled to find. And even with Keegan on this roster, how much have we talking about been talking about over the last three seasons? lack of size, lack of athleticism, lack of depth at Keegan’s position. Hopefully Scott Perry will address that, and he says he will, but as long as it’s not addressed, then Keegan Murray can look around and go, “You guys need to pay me what I want to keep me around here because you got no other option.” So, the the concept for me of losing a player like Keegan Murray, considering how difficult it’s been for Sacramento to find those type of players, regardless of who the general manager or head coach has been, is scary to me. So, that’s why, if you’re asking me, I’m trying to get this contract done, get it signed, get him extended. That doesn’t mean that Keegan’s going to be here over the five years of that deal. you could get extend him and then decide to move him later on down the road if you’re going full reset or if you can try and use him to sweeten up a trade. I don’t I have no idea. That doesn’t mean that you’re you’re locked into five years, five more years of Keegan Murray. But to extend him and retain control, I think is in the best interest of the Sacramento Kings. But I’m curious, how much of this season’s going to be in some ways a try out for the future Scott Perry Sacramento Kings team? So again, I ask long game, short game. What are you playing when it comes to Keegan Murray? Let me know. Finally, after a lot of speculation, it is now true. It is happening. I can confirm, as can many here in Sacramento, that Bobby Jackson is returning. He’s coming home. Bobby Jackson back in Sacramento as a member of Doug Christiey’s coaching staff. Makes perfect sense. It’s absolutely s not surprising to anybody, right? It’s one of the worst kept secrets out there. We’ve been talking about this since like when even when Doug took over as interim head coach, we’re like, “Yeah, it’s only a matter of time before Bobby Jackson’s back here.” Assuming Doug Christie has the job long term, Bobby has beyond earned this, right? And and I imagine he’s coming back to Sacramento not just to be back in sack, but I I imagine there’s going to be a jump up in responsibilities. I don’t know if I mean, we already know that Mike Woodson is going to be pretty much the the associate head coach or the the the sec like the the first mate, I suppose, to to Doug Christie being the captain. But I imagine Bobby Jackson is going to have some pretty significant responsibilities here in Sacramento. Right. For five years, he was either an assistant coach or a player development coach, but pretty much a back of the bench coach, a guy that doesn’t sit on the front front of the bench. The main coaching staff, they’re the ones that sit on the front of the bench. The back coaching staff are pretty typically the player development coaches, the analytics guys. Like that’s that’s back of the bench coaches. I am like Bobb’s been front of the bench coach of the last couple of seasons with Nick Nurse in Philadelphia. Of course, he was extremely successful as the head coach of the Stockton Kings for the one year before he went to Philly. So, Bobby is more than qualified for this. This is not I understand people who kind of roll their eyes at the nostalgia play and that’s been kind of consistent since VCron DB took over is how much of this old 2000’s team can we bring back to Sacramento with Vlad as the GM and Pasia as assistant GM and Doug Christie in a broadcast role to now assistant coach role to now head coach role and here’s Bobby Jackson coming back. What’s Brad Miller gonna do? Is Chris Weber interested in being involved? What about Jason Williams? Hey, Mike Bibbyy’s the head coach of the the uh the the uh SAK State Hornets, right? Like I get it. This is not a nostalgia play. Like Bobby deserves to be here. He’s earned this opportunity. He’s a really, really good, really, really respected head coach or excuse me, assistant coach. And he gives Doug somebody that without a doubt Doug can trust. Now, I think there are other people on this coaching staff, and there will be more on this coaching staff that Doug can 100% trust. But Bobb’s been in the trenches with Doug, right? They have been to war together. They should have won a championship together here in Sacramento. They’re very united in their vision for this city, the feeling of unfinished business here in Sacramento, right? And they have a pre-established relationship that is going to be important for Doug to lean on over his time here in Sacramento. So, it makes perfect sense for Bob uh Bobby to come back. Very excited to have Bobby Jackson back. He’s a phenomenal person as well. Of course, six man of the year, former sixman of the year here in Sacramento, beloved here in Sacramento. So, it’s going to be very, very cool to have Bobby Jackson back in the building, back around the organization. Another really strong step forward for Doug Christie in the construction of his coaching staff. All right, your thoughts on Bobby Jackson, your thoughts on Keegan Murray’s contract situation? and I want to hear from you. Also, I have a lot of great guests coming over the next few days here on the Lockdown Kings podcast. Chris Beerman from the Sacramento B is going to join me on tomorrow’s show. We’re going to talk in depth about Damont Sabonis. Where does he go from here, right? What do the Sacramento Kings need most out of Deamont Sabonis this off season? On Wednesday, I plan on speaking with the great Kyle Madson from ESPN 1320. Diehard Golden State Warriors fan who also does a phenomenal job covering Kings basketball. He’s been in the Sacramento media scene for a long time. Great friend here on the Locked on Kings podcast, too. Kyle and I are going to discuss the possibility of Jonathan Kaminga and how much the Sacramento Kings should be paying attention to Kaminga. Plus, we’ll also sneak in the Golden State Warriors potential interest in Yonis Valenunis considering how badly they need a center. And then from Sacktown Sports 1140, their midday show host Allan Styles is going to join me later this week. We’re going to talk in depth about the point guard position here in Sacramento. Allan and I are going to work together to try and find the best point guard options for Scott Perry and the Kings. That’s all coming this week on the Locked On Kings podcast. So, I’m looking forward to have you join me for all of those shows. Until next time, my name is Matt George. You’ve been listening to the Locked On podcast, part of the Lockdown podcast network.

Matt George breaks down the options for the Sacramento Kings and if they should play the short or long games with Keegan Murray’s contract.

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Should the Sacramento Kings Extend Keegan Murray’s Contract or Wait?
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