It’s early, but new head coach Mike Brown already is liking what he’s seeing from Kings rookie Keegan Murray.
Murray’s been the talk of Sin City as one of the best rookies in the NBA Summer League so far.
And while what he’s been able to do on the court has been nothing short of impressive, his coach is even more pleased with his mindset at such a young age.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
“His temperament is about as even-killed as I’ve seen from any young person,” Brown told FOX40’s Sean Cunningham. “His work ethic so far is off the charts. His development from his first year at Iowa to this year has been amazing. He went on a huge growth spurt. There are a lot of positives about him. His family is tremendous. It’s going to be interesting to see which way he goes in this business.”
The No. 4 pick is averaging 21.8 points on 49 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from beyond the arc in six games. He also is averaging 7.2 rebounds.
In summer league so far, Murray’s offensive efforts have exceeded some of the top 2022 draft picks. He has as many 20-point games as the No. 1 overall draft pick Paolo Banchero, Chet Holmgren (No. 2), Jabari Smith Jr. (No. 3), Jaden Ivey (No. 5) and Bennedict Mathurin (No. 6) combined.
While Brown acknowledges and appreciates Murray's physicality on the floor, there's been one thing that has really caught his attention.
NBA
“Beautiful stroke, his length and all that other stuff are great to be around and see in person," Brown admitted. "But the thing that impressed me the most about him was Game 2 of the California Classic. He had a very good Game 1, Game 2 he was struggling a little bit to start the game, but not one time did he go chase points, did he go chase the ball, he just kept playing his game. Moving the ball, going to set screens, just kept playing in the flow, and I think that’s extremely important for anybody let alone a young guy to be able to understand or feel because sometimes it may not be your night.
"But you can still be impactful in a lot of other ways not just for you but for your teammates too in order to help you win the game. So I was extremely impressed that he had the patience, the understanding that ‘Hey I can do other things to help us win besides going to chase a basket or a three and forcing the issue' which will get the whole team out of wack."
RELATED: What Murray hopes to accomplish playing in summer league
While Murray still has plenty to learn, the future is blindingly bright for the 21-year-old.