Former Iowa Hawkeyes Star Potential NBA Breakout Candidate

This former Iowa Hawkeyes star could have a breakout season with the Sacramento Kings during the 2024-25 NBA campaign.

Mar 16, 2022; Buffalo, NY, USA; Iowa Hawkeyes forward Keegan Murray (15) shoots the ball during practice before the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament at KeyBank Center. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images / Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes are more known for football than anything else, but their basketball program has certainly made strides in recent years.

Case in point: Iowa produced Keegan Murray, who was selected by the Sacramento Kings with the fourth overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft.

Murray enjoyed a very impressive rookie campaign, averaging 12.2 points and 4.6 rebounds over 29.8 minutes per game on 45.3/41.1/76.5 shooting splits. Last year, however, Murray was a bit disappointing, registering 15.2 points and 5.5 boards across 33.6 minutes a night while shooting 45.4 percent from the floor and just 35.4 percent from three-point range.

That being said, while the 24-year-old saw a bit of a dip in efficiency, he still displayed considerable offensive potential and showed elite defensive capabilities.

So, can Murray take the third-year leap for the Kings?

It certainly seems like a legitimate possibility.

Sacramento added DeMar DeRozan during the offseason, giving the Kings a rather fearsome trio of DeRozan, Domantas Sabonis and De'Aaron Fox. That should take an immense amount of pressure off of Murray as a scorer, which should allow him to be more efficient.

The Cedar Rapids, Ia. native attempted 12.7 shots per game last season. That number may dip with DeRozan now in tow, and Murray should get better looks on top of that.

While Murray may not post incredible counting stats, that's not all that matters. For example, if Murray averages just 15 points per game but does it while posting a true-shooting percentage north of 60 percent, that should be labeled a very successful campaign for the Hawkeyes product, especially if he continues displaying tremendous defensie potential.

Between the Kings' three main scorers, Murray and players like Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter, field-goal attempts should be largely spread out, which takes the onus off of Murray to be a primary bucket-getter for the squad.

This should pay dividends for Murray and grant him the ability to relax in Sacramento's offense. It will also permit him to focus more on the defensive end of the floor, where he could ultimately make an All-Defensive team at some point.

Murray enjoyed two very strong months in December and January last season, where he posted over 17 points per game while recording true-shooting percentages of 62.5 percent and 61.3 percent, respectively.

If Murray can return to that sort of efficiency, the Kings will be in great shape, and Murray will be on his way to becoming one of the best basketball players in Iowa history.