With the seventh pick of the 2016 NBA Draft, the Denver Nuggets have selected Jamal Murray, a 19-year-old guard who spent his sole college season playing for the University of Kentucky.
NBA Draft 2016: Nuggets take Jamal Murray with pick No. 7
The sharpshooter out of Kentucky is heading to the Nuggets.
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Murray was a five-star recruit going into college and proved in his freshman year that he was worth the hype. The Canadian combo guard averaged 20 points per game while shooting 50 percent on two pointers and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Despite a disappointing NCAA Tournament for the Wildcats, Murray proved his worth as a scorer.
Playing off the ball next to Tyler Ulis freed him to focus on shooting, a skill in which he's elite. Murray was terrific in catch-and-shoot situations and unstoppable coming off screens. All the ingredients are there for him to be a potent secondary threat at the NBA level, as Kevin O'Connor explained in his scouting report for SB Nation:
Murray’s excellent mechanics start even before he makes the catch. He’s terrific at sensing open space, and his footwork allows him to easily transition into his shot no matter the quality of the pass. That allows him to be used all over the court and in different play types. His release point is a little low, but his compact mechanics allow him to get the ball off in a flash.
Watching him patiently work off the ball only reinforces the idea that he could be a special weapon:
Despite boasting an elite skill that is in high demand in the NBA, there are some questions marks about how he will adjust to the NBA. His low assist numbers in college are a concern, but can be partially explained by the fact that he shared the floor with Ulis and Isaiah Briscoe. That leaves defense as his biggest weakness. Murray simply lacks the length to guard bigger players and the lateral speed to guard quick ones.
His lack of an explosive first step limits his potential as a first option, as well. The poor-decision making he showed earlier in the year only made that more obvious. After Murray dropped 35 points on Florida, John Calipari called him out on it, according to Alex Martin Smith of SEC Country:
“Any inside out pass to him, we’re telling him, ‘Shoot it,‘” Calipari said. “‘Don’t hesitate. If it’s inside and comes out to you, let it go. If you’re coming off a screen, and you want to drive, drive it coming off a screen.’ We’re trying to tell him, ‘Do not back it out and do the And-1 tape. You just don’t play that way. You don’t get by anybody. It’s an offensive foul. It’s a turnover.’”
Whether he can improve enough on his fundamentals as a defender and learns to make the smart play over the flashy one will determine his NBA ceiling. He could be the next J.J. Redick, or a poor man’s Jamal Crawford. The good news is that he has youth on his side, an elite skill that should get him minutes immediately and a reputation as coachable and a hard-worker, which he earned by improving in all areas as the year went by.
Murray was a divisive prospect but one that should contribute on offense right off the bat and could develop into something special down the road for the Nuggets.
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