Kings' Injury Woes Continue With Unfortunate Keegan Murray Update

The Sacramento Kings are now battling another key injury.

Apr 11, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray (13) dribbles against the Los Angeles Clippers during the first quarter at Golden 1 Center. | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

After a huge bounce-back win over the Houston Rockets, the Sacramento Kings fell back down to earth against the Detroit Pistons. The young Kings put up a good fight, but the numerous injuries and talent disparity were too much to overcome against the Eastern Conference leaders. 

The Kings were already without Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, and Drew Eubanks when the game tipped off, and many feared the worst when Keegan Murray didn’t return after the first half. 

Keegan Murray had an MRI which revealed a mild calf strain in his right leg and will be reevaluated in one week, sources say. He sustained the injury this past Tuesday in the loss to the Pistons.

— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) December 27, 2025

The Kings' announcement that Murray had been held out with a calf injury did very little to calm fans who have heard calf strains talked about as a precursor to Achilles tears ad-nauseum this year. 

Luckily for the Kings and Murray, it sounds like this is a mild strain, and Keegan shouldn’t miss too much time. Murray will reportedly be reevaluated in one week after being diagnosed with a mild calf strain.

Although the injury could have been much worse, Murray is probably the Kings’ most important player this season, and he has already missed a good chunk of time with a thumb injury. Sacramento, while being quite guard-rich, is extremely poor when it comes to serviceable wings, and will struggle to win anything with Murray sidelined. 

The One Player the Kings Really Can’t Afford to Lose

While Murray was out to start the season, head coach Doug Christie mostly went with three-guard lineups that included Russell Westbrook as a de facto forward, and the results were not great. 

With Murray sidelined to start the year, the Kings went 3-12 in their first 15 games, and many of the losses were not close. The Kings have only gone 4-11 with Murray active, but they have been far more competitive in the games he has played, especially defensively. Between his on-ball defense and rim protection, Murray might be the only thing keeping the Kings from allowing 150 points per game. 

The Kings don't play a lot of defense as a team, but Keegan Murray does as an individual. 8 stocks (five steals, three blocks) vs the Grizzlies. This was Murray's best block in 1-on-1, no-help defense against Jaren Jackson Jr: pic.twitter.com/NhAH6aQdwh

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) December 1, 2025

Offensively, Keegan’s numbers haven’t been anything to write home about, but he remains a respected shooter, and simply having him on the court makes things easier for the Kings on that end. Murray is shooting just 26% from three this season, by far a career low and nowhere near the 41% he shot as a rookie. 

It would be great to see him get his shooting numbers back up, but teams are still defending him like he is going to make every shot, which does wonders for the Kings’ spacing. Along with that, he’s gotten much better at attacking closeouts and is shooting a ridiculous 80% in the restricted area. 

Living on a Prayer

The Kings will likely go with Precious Achiuwa at the four spot and either Westbrook or DeMar DeRozan at the three while Murray recovers, and there really isn’t a better option for Christie. 

Achiuwa has been great this season and has started ten games for the Kings so far, but he’s the only decent defender in the starting lineup with Murray injured. Maxime Raynaud has certainly improved on that end, but he and Achiuwa aren’t close to the on-ball defenders that Murray is. This makes it virtually impossible to hide Westbrook and DeRozan when the Kings face off against Cooper Flagg, Luka Doncic, and James Harden in their next three games. 

This appears to be the moment in the second quarter where Keegan Murray might have suffered the right calf injury. https://t.co/Rxu0xICMSo pic.twitter.com/41Q7w7wMTe

— Sean Cunningham (@SeanCunningham) December 24, 2025

The Kings’ defense is flat-out bad, but their offense has been almost as atrocious this season, and it will likely get a lot worse with Murray out. As I mentioned, Murray isn’t shooting the ball well this season; however, he is still defended like a shooter. 

Before he was injured, the Kings were starting Raynaud, Achiuwa, Murray, DeRozan, and Westbrook, with LaVine also sidelined. That lineup already has a ton of spacing issues, but Murray was the one saving grace that gave the Kings a chance of running something that at least looks like an NBA offense. 

Until LaVine and/or Murray return, the Kings will be stuck playing a lineup that has very little (if any) shooting, unless they opt to start Keon Ellis or Malik Monk instead. 

Christie starting one of Ellis or Monk seems unlikely given the lack of gametime that the pair have seen in recent weeks. I expect that he will go with Raynaud, Achiuwa, Westbrook, DeRozan, and Dennis Schroder against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday, but he may be forced to use Monk or Ellis if that doesn’t go well. 

Murray does so many things on the court that can’t be replicated, and that isn’t Christie’s fault, but it is his problem now. Luckily for Sacramento, losing gets them closer to a franchise-altering draft pick because I don’t think they have a prayer with Murray, LaVine, and Sabonis out of the lineup.