Five takeaways from Kings’ 2022-23 NBA schedule release originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Let the countdown to basketball begin.
As of Wednesday’s schedule release, there are 63 days remaining until the Kings open the 2022-23 NBA season with a home matchup against the Portland Trail Blazers.
As Kings fans circle dates on their calendars in anticipation of big matchups, here are five takeaways from the first glance at the 2022-23 schedule release:
Hali’s return to Sactown
It will be an emotional return to Sacramento for Tyrese Haliburton when the Indiana Pacers visit Golden 1 Center on Nov. 30.
Haliburton, the No. 12 overall pick of the 2020 NBA Draft, was a fan favorite amongst the Kings faithful until he was traded along with Buddy Hield and Tristan Thompson in the blockbuster Domantas Sabonis deal.
After the trade, Haliburton faced the Kings on March 23 in Indiana and posted a double-double with 13 points and 15 assists. But a return to Golden 1 Center likely will bring another level of emotions.
In July, Haliburton shared that any initial disgruntled feelings towards the Sacramento front office after being traded are completely separate from his warm feelings towards Kings fans.
“With the fans forever. That’s not a question,” Haliburton told FOX40’s Sean Cunningham after the trade. “My feeling toward the organization and the fans are completely different. It is what it is.”
On the flip side of that trade, Sabonis didn’t play in that Kings-Pacers clash in March. Instead, he will get his first chance to play at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in a Kings uniform when Sacramento heads to Indiana on Feb. 3.
Here come the Murray comparisons
Leading up to the 2022 NBA Draft, two names emerged as the favorites to wind up going to Sacramento at No. 4 overall – Iowa’s Keegan Murray and Purdue’s Jaden Ivey.
The pick, of course, wound up being Murray, who already looks the part of the fourth pick after being named MVP of the Las Vegas Summer League.
But the names Murray and Ivey will be forever intertwined in NBA circles after Ivey went one pick after Murray, No. 5 overall, to the Detroit Pistons. Whenever one player goes off, especially early in the season, the other will definitely hear of it.
Murray and Ivey will go head-to-head for the first time Nov. 20 when the Pistons travel to Golden 1 Center.
Elsewhere in notable rookie clashes, Murray and the Kings will square off against Paolo Banchero, the top pick of the 2022 draft, and the