Who was the surprise of the Kings opener?

It was a bit of a surprise when Keegan Murray, the No. 4 overall pick of the 2022 NBA Draft, wasn't in coach Mike Brown's starting lineup Monday night in the Kings' 105-75 preseason win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Instead, it was defensive standout KZ Okpala getting the starting nod. Murray was electric and showed the poise of a veteran Leading all scorers with

16 points on 7-of-11 shooting while also tallying six rebounds, two steals, and one assist. Naturally he has also stolen the headlines.

However, the stats don’t show everything. I would argue, that the defensive play of Okpala was equally as impressive and even more impactful from a “needs” perspective.

To begin to quantify my case, here is another stat line to consider.

0-7.

That is what Lebron James shot in 16 minutes of play in which he was mainly guarded by Okpala. One must go back and watch the game though to really understand the impact. Okpala gave Lebron fits and ALSO disrupted Westbrook and the Lakers bigs. He truly can guard 1-5 and severely disrupt 1-5. To be clear, Lebron was not shut down by Okpala but he gave him, and everyone else’s he covered, fits.

Watch him guarding Damian Lillard in the Olympics and you will see that last night was not a fluke. See here.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjG-M2Mrcf6AhUwD1kFHVsFBbEQwqsBegQICRAF&url=https%3A%2F%2Fm.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D2IwJ6Zj5WzI&usg=AOvVaw1I4p9VbnxOnFB1ihfyMqvt

Coach Mike Brown has said repeatedly that Okpala could be the best defender in the NBA if he sees court time. Okpala did not shoot well but he caused problems for whoever he was guarding and rebounded and pushed the ball up the floor well.

The good news is Kings don’t need more shooting. They brought in Huerter, Monk and Murray for that. They do need someone like Okpala who can totally change the game on the other side of the ball.