It would be hard to argue that there was a more surprising team in the NBA during the 2022-23 season than the upstart Sacramento Kings, who defied the odds all year and clinched the third seed in the Western Conference.
Along with De’Aaron Fox taking a step closer to becoming a potential superstar and Domantas Sabonis proving last year’s trade was the right move, the Kings saw some other players come into their own this season, like rookie forward Keegan Murray.
Murray became an essential piece to the puzzle for the Kings during the playoffs and actually outscored every other rookie in the postseason combined, according to StatMuse.
Points by a rookie this postseason:
68 — Keegan Murray
63 — Everyone else combined pic.twitter.com/aveThnO2tX— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 2, 2023
In 80 games during the regular season, Murray averaged 12.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while shooting 45.3% from the floor and 41.1% from beyond the arc.
Impressive numbers for a rookie on a team that was so successful throughout the regular season and proved this squad could be a force to be reckoned with for many years to come.
Plenty of players for Sacramento made an impact during the postseason and may have set themselves up for a bright future with the team moving forward.
Malik Monk, Kevin Huerter, Trey Lyles, and Terence Davis all made an impact on this promising young Kings team and could become household names in the near future.
Despite falling to the Warriors in seven games in the first round of the playoffs, the Kings don’t look like a team going anywhere anytime soon as this season and postseason performance doesn’t appear to be a fluke.
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