The Kings extend Murray s contract with an annual salary of 28 million! The Rockets lower the price and become the winner, but the Dewey combination has no chance to reappear

The Kings decided to renew the contract of rising star Keegan Murray with an annual salary of US$28 million.

Murray is 25 years old and 2.03 meters tall. He averaged 12.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.9 blocks in 34 minutes per game last season. He shot 44.4% from the field, 34.3% from the three-point range, and 83.3% from the free throw line. Compared with the previous season, Murray's scoring, assists and steals data have declined, and his field goal percentage and three-point shooting percentage have also dropped.

After the end of last season, the American media selected each team's most disappointing player. Shepard was chosen by the Rockets, and Keegan Murray was chosen by the Kings.

Shepard, who was selected by the Rockets with the No. 3 pick, was once touted as the new Curry by the American media in the summer league. However, he did not have many playing opportunities in his rookie season, which indeed disappointed many fans.

As the No. 4 pick in 2022, Murray has stable playing time and ball rights with the Kings, but his performance has declined.

Three days ago, the Kings officially announced that Murray suffered an injury in the preseason and is expected to rest for four to six weeks. On the other hand, famous reporter Mark Stern revealed that the Kings hope to keep Murray for a long time and are discussing an early contract extension with him. At that time, many fans expected Murray to receive a five-year, $100 million contract, but the Kings were more generous than they imagined.

The famous reporter Shams broke the news in the early morning that Murray and the Kings have reached an agreement. His new contract is 5 years and 140 million US dollars. Previously, reporters added details. This contract has no team or player options, and the average annual salary is US$28 million.

Seeing the contract offered by the Kings to Murray, some fans said that the Rockets made money by renewing Smith's contract.

The Rockets lowered the price to find the winner, and Stone really has a way to negotiate contract renewal.

Smith Jr. is younger, taller, has more potential, and has a cheaper contract than Murray. Smith Jr. reached an early contract extension with the Rockets during the offseason, with the contract worth $122 million over five years.

When this contract first came out, some fans thought that the Rockets gave too much. Stone's offer to Smith Jr. included expectations for his growth. Smith Jr. is only 22 years old, and he can continue to improve, not to mention that Houston also has an excellent mentor in Durant.

Even Uduka, who has always been harsh, publicly stated that Smith Jr. has improved, which shows that this young man is indeed working hard. In the preseason, Smith Jr. averaged 17.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in 23 minutes per game, shooting 48.6% from the field, 47.4% from three-point range, and 90.9% from free throws. In the preseason, Murray averaged only 7.5 points and 4 rebounds in 20 minutes per game, and his shooting percentage was 37.5%. Now it seems that Smith's new contract is very cost-effective.

Smith suffered an injury last season and fell out of the starting lineup for a time. Stone successfully lowered the price and the Rockets saved another money. Stone previously paid $185 million over five years to lower the price of Sengon, thus saving the Rockets nearly $40 million.

Sengon is already an All-Star center, and Smith Jr. has also been upgraded. I have to say that the Rockets have indeed become a winner.

Previously, some fans hoped that the Rockets could win Westbrook and let him and Durant join forces to compete for the championship. Now that the Kings have taken action, the Dewey combination has no chance of reappearing in Houston.

Famous reporter Shams broke the news in the early morning that Westbrook agreed to sign a contract with the Kings. A reporter revealed that it was a basic salary.

Durant was asked about the rumors about Westbrook and the Rockets when participating in the show: I don’t know, I heard about it too. Usually when something like this happens, there's a lot of fanfare, but I didn't hear it outside of the internet. Westbrook is a legend, and I think he deserves to stay in the NBA now, but I can't make the decision on this matter.

The Rockets are short of point guard after Van Jordan was seriously injured, but Houston has no salary space. At the same time, Stone wants to train Shepard, and he seems to have no interest in bringing back Westbrook.

It is worth mentioning that the Suns, who are also short of point guards, did not offer Westbrook a contract. Suns core Booker talked about Westbrook signing with the Kings in an interview: This is a good thing for the league, and I respect him very much.