Former Iowa Standout Being Plagued by Massive Problem

Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray has certainly been playing better basketball over the last month, as he has rediscovered his shot and finally seems to be regaining confidence.

That's all well and good.

However, there is one concerning part of Murray's game that is becoming too pressing to ignore: his inability to get to the free-throw line.

The former Iowa Hawkeyes star is averaging just 1.1 free-throw attempts per game this season. In total, he has taken 49 foul shots. Twenty-three of those came during the month of November.

He attempted just 16 free throws overall in December and January, getting to the charity stripe just six times in the latter month.

For Murray to truly develop into a top-level scorer in the NBA, he must get more aggressive and draw more contact going to the basket.

It wasn't an issue for the 24-year-old when he was at Iowa, as he took 5.4 free throws a night during his final season with the Hawkeyes in 2021-22.

So, what exactly has happened to Murray on the professional level?

Obviously, the NBA game is much more difficult than that of the NCAA. That isn't a question. However, Murray seems to have gone away from what allowed him to lead the Big Ten with 23.5 points per game in that last collegiate campaign.

He seems to be relying far too much on his three-point, as 56.3 percent of Murray's field-goal attempts throughout his three-year NBA career have come from beyond the arc. That's just too much, and it's resulting in a very inconsistent scoring arc for the Cedar Rapids native.

Murray is averaging 12.1 points per game this year, which is a career low. He also lays claim to a career-worst true-shooting percentage of 53.7 percent.

In order for the Iowa product to take his performance to the next level, he must start making a concerted effort to get to the free-throw line. Either that, or he will never legitimately live up to his billing as a No. 4 overall pick.