The seemingly obvious choice is to run a similar lineup as to how the Kings ended up towards the end of the season, with Keon Ellis retaining his starting spot. Ellis’ defense is much needed in the starting lineup, and he doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective. Ellis doesn’t have as much experience as someone like a Kevin Huerter at spacing the floor or running off ball screens, but he’s proven to be a more than capable shooter so far, shooting 41.7% from three last season (including 40.4% in the 21 games he started and played decent minutes in). If I were a betting man, this is the lineup I think Coach Brown will start the year with.

Another option is returning Kevin Huerter to his role as the starting Shooting Guard. Huerter has more experience playing off the ball, has good chemistry with Domantas Sabonis in the dribble hand-off game and provides slightly better size than Ellis. But Huerter seemed to be at odds with Coach Brown for much of the year last season even before the injury, particularly due to his defensive struggles. I think Huerter would be better served coming in off the bench where he can take a more active role as a scorer and secondary playmaker.

Malik Monk is doubtless the most talented option and has also made clear in the past that he’d like to start. There was some speculation when the Kings were able to re-sign him that they had made him assurances he would start going forward, but that was quickly made clear that was not the case. Monk’s fit as the 6th man still makes too much sense for this roster as currently constructed. Monk’s greatest attributes are as a scorer and playmaker, both best applied in a bench role. Still, I expect to see Monk on the floor finishing a lot of games, and likely playing the most minutes of all Sacramento’s guards aside from De’Aaron Fox.

Finally, the Kings could go with a more unorthodox approach and start DeRozan at Shooting Guard and bring Trey Lyles into the starting lineup to add more size. If DeRozan were younger and more spry, I could see this being a realistic option, but it’s hard to see now, especially with Sacramento’s lack of depth at wing. I have no doubt we’ll see this lineup played at times, likely against bigger teams, but not as a full time starting unit.

With De’Aaron Fox, DeMar DeRozan and Domantas Sabonis commanding the majority of the touches offensively, I think the best option for the Kings is to go with their best combination of defense and shooting around them which points to Keegan Murray and Keon Ellis, at least with how this roster is currently constructed.