The Sacramento Kings had to face facts following Sunday’s practice.

Keegan Murray is sidelined due to injury and he won’t be back anytime soon after hurting his thumb in Friday’s preseason loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

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“It sucks,” Kings forward DeMar DeRozan said. “It’s unfortunate. He wants to be out there. He wants to play, so it’s definitely unfortunate for something like that to happen during a preseason game.”

Murray will miss at least a month after an MRI revealed an ulnar collateral ligament tear in his left thumb. He will undergo surgery and is expected to be reevaluated in four to six weeks.

Murray, a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward who came out of Iowa as the No. 4 pick in the 2022 NBA draft, is Sacramento’s most versatile player and one of the team’s only proven defenders. His absence at the power forward spot – a position where the Kings already lack depth – leaves the Kings with a huge void in a lineup that also features Dennis Schroder, Zach LaVine, DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis.

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“It’s tough because Keegan has size, strength, athleticism, and he shoots 40% (from 3-point range),” Kings coach Doug Christie said. “We have a couple different guys who could maybe equal Keegan, but we don’t have Keegan, so replacing him is definitely difficult.”

The Kings are searching for answers as they prepare to play the Los Angeles Clippers in the third of four preseason games Wednesday at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento. They could start a number of players in Murray’s absence, including Malik Monk, Keon Ellis, Nique Clifford, Maxime Raynaud and Dario Saric.

Based on the timeline the Kings have provided, Murray will be reevaluated between Nov. 9 and Nov. 23.

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Murray will miss a minimum of 10 games with a four-week recovery and a minimum of 17 games with a six-week recovery.

Christie will experiment with different lineups leading up to Sacramento’s season opener against the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 22. Whether he goes with a bigger or smaller lineup, the Kings will have to make adjustments.

“It changes a lot,” DeRozan said. “Keegan is a key player to this team. Defensively, offensively, the things he’s able to do. Every team wants a guy like Keegan, so to lose out on that is definitely tough, but we’ve just got to figure it out.”

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Clifford, a rookie first-round draft pick, agreed with DeRozan’s assessment.

“I think it’s a next-man-up mentality,” Clifford said. “We can’t do nothing about it, so we’ve got to come together as a group and figure out who needs to step up, what we need to do to get better, and continue to build that chemistry with one another and figure out the pieces that we’re missing now with him off the floor.”