The Sacramento Kings have missed Keegan Murray’s presence at the power forward position while waiting for him to recover from thumb surgery, but the wait is almost over.
A league source told The Sacramento Bee that Murray is expected to make his season debut against the Memphis Grizzlies on Thursday. His return comes with the season teetering on the brink of collapse after the Kings lost 11 of their first 14 games while facing a brutal schedule without one of their most irreplaceable players.
The Kings (3-11) are in the midst of a six-game losing streak going into Wednesday’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder (14-1). The absence of Murray has underscored roster imbalances and their lack of depth at the forward spots. Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine have logged minutes at power forward behind Precious Achiuwa, who has started four of seven games since signing with Sacramento on Nov. 4.
Murray was assigned to the G League Stockton Kings on Monday after being cleared for five-on-five contact basketball. He was recalled from Stockton on Tuesday. Sources said Murray was scheduled to meet the NBA club in Oklahoma City on Tuesday evening.
Murray has been sidelined for the past five weeks after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb. He suffered the injury in a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Oct. 10. He had surgery Oct. 13 in New York.
Murray, who recently signed a five-year, $140 million contract extension, came out of Iowa as the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NBA draft. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team in 2022-23 after setting a rookie record with 206 3-point goals.
Murray has started 231 of 233 games over three seasons in the NBA, averaging 13.3 points and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 45.1% from the field and 37.2% from 3-point range. The 6-foot-8 forward has also emerged as an outstanding defender who can guard all five positions.
This story was originally published November 18, 2025 at 3:25 PM.
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Jason Anderson
The Sacramento Bee
Jason Anderson is The Sacramento Bee’s Kings beat writer. He is a Sacramento native and a graduate of Fresno State, where he studied journalism and college basketball under the late Jerry Tarkanian.
