{"id":2511,"date":"2025-10-13T23:06:24","date_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/2511\/"},"modified":"2025-10-13T23:06:24","modified_gmt":"2025-10-13T23:06:24","slug":"will-will-start-for-the-sacramento-kings-in-place-of-murray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/2511\/","title":{"rendered":"Will will start for the Sacramento Kings in place of Murray?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Sacramento Kings will be without starting forward Keegan Murray for at least four to six weeks. So\u2026 now what?<\/p>\n<p>Murray, who suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb during Friday\u2019s preseason matchup in Portland, will undergo surgery that will sideline him for the first month-plus of the 2025-26 regular season.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to replacing Murray in the starting lineup, there\u2019s no easy choice for first-year head coach Doug Christie.<\/p>\n<p>Christie has often expressed that he values who finishes a game more than who starts it. However, Kings fans have witnessed Sacramento struggle with sluggish starts in the first quarter, putting them at a disadvantage early on over the past two seasons.<\/p>\n<p>How will the Kings adapt to life without Murray? Who would you put in the starting five on October 22nd when Sacramento faces Phoenix to begin the regular season?<\/p>\n<p>Let us know by casting your vote below:<\/p>\n<p>Loading\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More Sacramento Kings content from Sactown Sports<\/p>\n<p>The four-game NBA preseason is a valuable time for teams to implement and test new schemes or identities. Minutes are often limited on starters as a preventative measure for injuries, along with allowing their top players to work their way into game shape gradually.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray suffered a right thumb injury that could sideline him for nearly 20 games.<\/p>\n<p>Murray suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb during the second quarter of Friday\u2019s preseason game in Portland, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/59217\/sacramento-kings-keegan-murray-thumb-4-6\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kings announced Sunday<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Per the team, \u201che will undergo surgery and be re-evaluated in approximately four to six weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s painful timing for the Kings and Murray, who have until October 20th to negotiate an extension. If nothing is agreed upon, the former fourth-overall pick would become a restricted free agent.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Doug Christie\u2019s job didn\u2019t get any easier either. Murray is Sacramento\u2019s most versatile player, consistently making an impact on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s tough because Keegan has size, strength, athleticism, and he shoots 40% [from three],\u201d Christie said after Sunday\u2019s first practice without his expected starting power forward.<\/p>\n<p>Six weeks from the announcement (Nov. 23rd), Sacramento will have played 17 of its 82 regular-season games. The shorter projected date of four weeks would cause him to miss nine games.<\/p>\n<p>The next two preseason games will provide an opportunity for various options to prove they deserve the spot.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/59223\/kings-keegan-murray-opportunities-christie\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Kings will \u201cgive guys opportunities\u201d in absence of Keegan Murray<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When is the next Sacramento Kings game?<\/p>\n<p>Sacramento will continue its preseason slate of games on Wednesday night when it returns home for a matchup against the new-look Los Angeles Clippers at Golden 1 Center.<\/p>\n<p>Be sure to catch all of the Kings vs. Clippers action right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage beginning at 5:30 PM PT on Game Night before a 7 pm PT tip-off from downtown Sacramento.<\/p>\n<p>Upcoming Sacramento Kings schedule for the 2025-26 season<\/p>\n<p>Preseason<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday, October 15th\u00a0vs. Los Angeles Clippers \u2013 7 PM PT<br \/>\nFriday, October 17th\u00a0@ Los Angeles Lakers \u2013 7 PM PT<\/p>\n<p>Regular Season<\/p>\n<p>Wednesday, October 22nd\u00a0\u2013 @ Phoenix Suns \u2013 7 PM PT<br \/>\nFriday, October 24th\u00a0\u2013 vs. Utah Jazz \u2013 7 PM PT<br \/>\nSunday, October 26th\u00a0\u2013 vs. Los Angeles Lakers \u2013 6 PM PT<br \/>\nTuesday, October 28th\u00a0\u2013 @ Oklahoma City Thunder \u2013 5 PM PT<br \/>\nWednesday, October 29th\u00a0\u2013 @ Chicago Bulls \u2013 5 PM PT<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Thank you for reading\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SactownSports.com<\/a>. Follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sactown1140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMMGengsw2Ki2Aw?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US&amp;ceid=US:en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Google News<\/a>, and subscribe to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/SactownSports1140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a>\u00a0channel.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FCartoscelli3\" data-show-count=\"false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Follow @FCartoscelli3<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/newsletters\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SactownSportsEmail-300x250-1.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"mobile-signup\"\/>\t&#13;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/SactownSportsEmail-830x100-1.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"desktop-signup\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Sacramento Kings will be without starting forward Keegan Murray for at least four to six weeks. So\u2026&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2512,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[1073,121,123,122,3157,3156],"class_list":{"0":"post-2511","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sacramento","8":"tag-home","9":"tag-sacramento","10":"tag-sacramento-headlines","11":"tag-sacramento-news","12":"tag-sactownsports-com","13":"tag-sactownsports-com-sacramento-sports-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}