Stop playing! Torn ligament! Worst injury in NBA career

On October 14, the Kings officially announced: Keegan Murray suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb. He has successfully undergone surgical treatment and will be re-evaluated in 4-6 weeks. The regular season will start in 10 days, which means that Keegan Murray will miss a month of the regular season, which is about 15 games.

Keegan Murray currently has a four-year rookie contract of US$36.37 million, which expires in the summer of 2026, with one year of US$11.14 million left. The deadline for early contract renewal was October 21, with only one week left. Unexpectedly, this key point was injured. If the Kings do not renew Murray's contract in advance, he will become a restricted free agent next summer.

In the first three seasons of his career, Murray played 233 regular season games and missed only 13 games in total. Let’s talk about another data comparison: Keegan Murray in the 2022 class has played more games in his career than Zion in the 2019 class (214 games) and Three Goals in the 2020 class (231 games). Now Murray will miss about 15 games and suffer the most serious injury of his career.

During this offseason, the Kings and Warriors discussed a sign-and-trade for Kuminga. At that time, the Kings were only willing to send Saric, Devin Carter and a protected first-round pick, but the Warriors asked for Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis, which were decisively rejected by the Kings. Some media selected the most disappointing player of each team last season, and the Kings team was Keegan Murray.

Keegan Murray was born on August 19, 2000. He is 2.03 meters tall and has a wingspan of 2.10 meters. He played at the University of Iowa for two years. In his freshman season (2020-21), he averaged 18 minutes per game, only 7.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 0.5 assists, 0.8 steals, 1.3 blocks, 0.6 turnovers, and his three-point shooting percentage was only 29.6%. If he runs for election in 2021, it will be difficult to even advance into the first round.

In his sophomore season, Murray's data suddenly skyrocketed. He averaged 31.9 minutes per game, scoring 23.5 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 steals, 1.9 blocks, and 1.9 turnovers. His three shooting percentages were: 55.4%, 39.8%, and 74.7%. He suddenly became the top three-point shooter in the NCAA, and also made his draft prospect into the top five in the first round.

In the 2022 NBA Draft, Murray was selected by the Kings with the 4th overall pick in the first round, second only to Benqueiro, Holmgren and Jabari Smith Jr. In the 2022-23 season, he averaged 12.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game, and his three-point shooting percentage was 41.1%! Became the first rookie in NBA history to hit 200+ three-pointers in a single season (206).

In the second year of his career, Murray's average data per game has improved, but his three-point shooting percentage has declined. In the 2023-24 season, he started 77 regular season games for the Kings, averaging 33.6 minutes per game, scoring 15.2 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1 steal, 0.8 blocks, and 0.8 turnovers. His three shooting percentages were: 45.4%, 35.8%, and 83.1%.

In the 2024-25 season, the third-year Murray's data declined. He started 76 regular season games for the Kings, averaging 34.3 minutes per game, scoring 12.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals, 0.9 blocks, and 0.8 turnovers. His three shooting percentages were: 44.4%, 34.3%, and 83.3%. Both field goal and three-point shooting percentages were career lows.

What do you think Keegan Murray’s next contract will be?