Defense has been the sore spot in Sacramento for years, but the Kings may finally have a forward pairing that can help move the needle. Keegan Murray and De'Andre Hunter give Doug Christie something this team has badly lacked: size, lateral speed and enough versatility to switch without immediately giving up an easy matchup.
That matters because the Kings have been bleeding points for a long time. Sacramento has not finished better than 15th in points allowed per game since drafting Murray in 2023, and the team has regularly surrendered 115 points or more. Last season was especially brutal, with the Kings posting the third-worst defensive rating in NBA history.
Murray and Hunter both had seasons interrupted by injuries, too. Murray dealt with a torn UCL and lingering ankle issues, while Hunter, acquired by Sacramento at the deadline, underwent season-ending surgery. Now, after a long offseason, both have had time to recover and give the Kings a better defensive baseline.
No one is pretending that suddenly makes Sacramento a top-tier unit. But it does give Christie a real path toward a switching scheme, and that alone is a meaningful step. With both forwards on the floor, the Kings can put a stronger body on a primary scorer and keep a weaker defender tucked away on a corner shooter.
Matt George, host of the "Matt George Podcast," pointed to Stephen Curry as the kind of problem this duo can help solve.
"Curry looks for a screen to try and force a switch so he can go one-on-one against Darius Acuff Jr. or Zach LaVine or a weaker defender," George said on Thursday's episode. "Now DeAndre Hunter is there to switch and potentially take some of that pressure off of Keegan."
Curry is going to be Curry; even elite defenders can only do so much against a shot-maker like that. But Murray and Hunter at least give Sacramento bigger, more disruptive options than the kinds of guards or smaller defenders opponents have been able to hunt in the past. They can make him work, force the ball out of his hands, or contest the shot with a little more resistance.
That kind of possession is the point for Sacramento right now. This is a multi-season project, not a one-off fix, and general manager Scott Perry is already building toward it.
He added more defensive depth this offseason by signing Ben Simmons and drafting Emanuel Sharp.
Simmons, listed at 6-foot-10, brings the kind of point-forward versatility that can hold up on the perimeter and absorb contact against bigger players.
Sharp also arrives with a defensive reputation. Chris Cenac Jr., his former teammate at Houston, gave him a rookie superlative and called him the best defender in the rookie class. Sharp was part of a Houston defense that allowed just 62.3 points per contest, the fewest in the Big 12, and he averaged 1.1 steals in his college career, including 1.5 during the 2022-23 season.
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Acuff showed flashes of why people are excited during summer league, especially as a creator who can set the table and score in bunches. The next step, though, is the hard one for any young guard: handling NBA-level defense while tightening up his shooting efficiency, and if he gets there, the early comparisons to former Kings guard De'Aaron Fox will only get louder. [Read more 🡒]