Chris Mannix (Sports Illustrated reporter) was recently on the Ryen Russillo podcast to discuss NBA news. They talked about the Sacramento Kings' offseason a bit and Mannix reported he's hearing extremely high praise for Keegan Murray.
- Russillo: Sacramento. They cleared the decks. They made some moves on draft night, and you were like 'wait, are they going to get frisky here?' And now looking at what Golden State did, it feels like everyone was aligned, on the same page. That is probably a hint of what happens with Klay after this year. They got off the Poole money. Maybe there's a play out there - whether it's Chris Paul's contract this year. They've allowed themselve some options. But when it was happening, you were like 'wait, is Sacramento going to go for Draymond [Green]? ... But what Sacramento ended up doing was taking care of their own business. Making sure everything is aligned, at least timeline-wise. Extending, redoing some deals here. So what's the sense that you've gotten in Vegas about Sacramento who, you know, a really good regular season team, maybe ahead of schedule a little bit, liking their core that much to just say we're locked back in, let's back and run it?
- Mannix: Yeah, I didn't get the sense talking to people in and around the organization that the trade that opened up all that room was about anything externally. I think it was about realizing that Richaun Holmes wasn't working out there, and getting his contract off the books. It was obviously about creating some flexibility to give Domantas Sabonis some more money. They're just a big believer in what they're doing internally. They believe that their internal growth next year is going to make them a better team. And there's reasons to believe that. I mean, it is the Sacramento summer league, but man, Keegan Murray looked great in that brief period. They look at him and they see a potential franchise player. They believe he's as good as anyone they have on their roster, including De'Aaron Fox, including Domantas Sabonis. They believe he's that next star for their team. So if he takes a jump, that makes an already really good team better next year.
