No Kings but Russell Westbrook and a big-dollar Keegan Murray

Truly, why not? Good morning. Let's basketball.

The Kings made some moves on Wednesday, extending Keegan Murray for $140 million over five years and signing Russell Westbrook to a minimum contract. You may be asking yourself why? Why did the Kings spend so much money on a wing who is already 25 and whose offense has regressed over his three years in the NBA? Why did the Kings sign an aging veteran who has burned out his last ... three? four? teams and not been retained, and who is relatively unplayable in playoff series due to a lack of outside shooting threat?

To these questions, I ask this: why not?

What are the Kings, anyway? A quasi-competitive vet-laden team with minimal young talent, pretty shallow resources and ability to draw free agents, a core that does not inspire tons of confidence. More than any team in the NBA, this team is just some dudes. Domantas Sabonis is an elite rebounder and offensive hub who won't shoot from beyond 18 feet and, while having the heart of a lion, isn't a stout defender. Zach LaVine is a deadly shooter and slasher who isn't a stout defender. DeMar DeRozan is the coolest player you've ever seen with some of the best footwork and one-on-one moves who won't shoot from beyond 18 feet and isn't a stout defender. That's your core. You just added Dennis Schroder: a fine low-end starter or high-end reserve floor general who will shoot and slash but, uh, isn't a stout defender.

Your fifth starter, once he's healthy again, is Murray. Murray in theory is a player who helps make Sabonis work. It's notable that Murray's best season – his rookie year, when he won Mike Brown's trust and shot 41% from deep with two-thirds of his shots coming from long-range – was also the Kings' best season during the Sabonis era, the famed Light The Beam season. If you have a non-shooting hub running the show, you desperately need shooters and slashers for him to spray the ball to, or strong ball-handlers with whom to spam pick-and-roll (in this particular case dribble hand-off) action.