On Thursday night, Keegan Murray joined a rare class of former Iowa basketball players as the top 10 players in the NBA draft when Sacramento selected him for fourth overall. Since his decision to enter the draft in April, Murray has been a mainstay as a major sweepstakes choice.
This week, ESPN analyst Jay Bellas gave Murray a special distinction: the most NBA-ready prospect.
“The player (in the NBA draft) most ready for the NBA, who you can plug in right now, is Keegan Murray,” Bellas said on ESPN’s SportsCenter this week. “He’s an incredibly smart player. Keegan is mature enough to get into the NBA and put in a top-level performance right away.”
What exactly do the Kings of Sacramento get for? lets take alook.
Keegan Murray fits the modern NBA
A player who fits the current NBA template. Murray is a 6-foot-8, 225-pound forward combination with the ability to play small forward, power forward, and even center in small ball situations. Last season at Iowa State, he emerged as perhaps the best two-way player in college basketball.
Offensively, Murray was an elite. He finished the 2021-22 season as the nation’s leader in points (822) and fourth nationally in points per game (23.6), a figure that is the highest among Power Conference players. Overall, he averaged 23.6 points while shooting 55% from the field and 39.8% from the 3-point streak. Murray will probably not be the top scorer of his new team, but he is a player who is capable of scoring goals at three levels and has a special strength in low scoring.
In the Big Ten in 2021-22, Murray had a seventh-best defensive rating (96.8), third-best block ratio (6.4), and 13th-best steal ratio (2.3). His overall athleticism was a question mark during the pre-draft process, but Murray has consistently shown that he can stay ahead of attacking players and should at least be an above-average defender in the NBA.
He’s one of two players in college basketball history with more than 800 points, more than 60 throws, three throws and more than 60 cuts in a single season, the other: Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.
He was also the most influential college basketball player in terms of winning last season. He led the nation with 8.7 winning shares, a measure that estimates the number of wins a player has for his team throughout the season. He also led the country with 15.7 plus/minus, which means Iowa was 15.7 points per 100 holdings better with him on the ground than the average output from another player.
Keegan Murray can be the third choice to register as a beginner
Half-court offense needs time to develop at the NBA level; However, Murray’s ability to bounce (8.7 per game, third highest in the Big Ten) will help him find opportunities in transitional attack. An Iowa program known for grabbing rebounds and running on offense, Murray consistently began attacking himself and his teammates as the best player on the team.
Murray spent the initial draft process improving two areas of his game: steady shooting and ball handling. He’s probably the number 3 option to score at best in his new team (at least early) and he may not have as many offensive plays as he did at Iowa. He will need to be able to create on his own in isolation and also get rid of open snaps when they are available to him.
“I just got more creative with the ball in my hand,” Murray told Hawk Central last week. “That was probably the biggest point of focus, just doing different things from dribbling, my fists, things like that. I feel like this has gone a really long way since the end of the season. And also consistency with my shot every time, the main thing was ‘No’ Miss two consecutive shots.” Throughout the process, I really got (more) consistent with my jump shot.”
At the age of 21, Murray is mature enough to play professionally. Getting into the NBA can be a player up front from day one, growing into an above-average player (like Michael Bridges, Phoenix Suns or Kyle Kuzma, Washington Wizards) with the potential to grow into a two-way standout player in the years to come.