Keegan Murray

Oh man, this explains everything. Dude hits shots off of movement like a Splash Brother, which couldn’t pop on his college film because Fran either used him in the post or in stagnant sets.
Keegan’s late growth spurt also accounts for him somehow going unrecruited out of high school since he was taught to play like an offball guard rather than as a big man or like a point guard who had a growth spurt like AD or David Robinson.
Obviously the on-ball shot creation is a work in progress but he’s already improving in that regard since being drafted.
It’s hard to say that the guy drafted 4th overall is underrated but I think there’s a good chance Keegan is capable of being much better than we ever anticipated (unless you were wildly optimistic and placed a wager on Keegan winning MVP this year or something). Then again, this is probably just the preseason hype and small sample size talking
 
Previous notions of Murray being able to play the 5 is a no go. He looks on the smaller side as a 4. Any premium value as a modern day Horford is out the window.
 
cwebb2002 said:
How has he compared thus far?
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I’m not as familiar with his game as the growing number of Hawkeye fans on this board are (I only really started tuning in to Iowa/Big Ten games when the Kings started really looking bad enough to be in the draft range for the top Big 10 players) but there were times where Kris would look like the better twin on the floor for Iowa. He’s not the natural scorer that Keegan is but he was by far the better ball-handler of the two and he does a lot of role player-ey things that I feel like will translate to the next level (both of them are really good rebounders for their size and Kris was a better on-the-ball defender than Keegan but some of that may have just been because Keegan was tired from having to carry the team on his back on offense every night). The things that separate Keegan from Kris are the shooting touch (Kris put up fairly good numbers from the perimeter but his free throw shooting hovered around the 60% mark all season and he hasn’t shown the ability to get unstoppably hot like Keegan has) and athleticism (despite being identical twins, Keegan is probably a bit longer and a little quicker than his brother).

That said, Kris probably can be at least a solid rotation 3-and-D combo forward for a good decade or so in the league. I know it’s a bit of a lazy comp what with the whole twin angle being a thing but I feel like he could fill a Marcus Morris-type plus stretch forward role in the league and that’s one of the more sought after player archetypes in the modern NBA right now. I certainly wouldn’t mind him being on the Kings.
 
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Tetsujin said:
Oh man, this explains everything. Dude hits shots off of movement like a Splash Brother, which couldn’t pop on his college film because Fran either used him in the post or in stagnant sets.
Keegan’s late growth spurt also accounts for him somehow going unrecruited out of high school since he was taught to play like an offball guard rather than as a big man or like a point guard who had a growth spurt like AD or David Robinson.
Obviously the on-ball shot creation is a work in progress but he’s already improving in that regard since being drafted.
It’s hard to say that the guy drafted 4th overall is underrated but I think there’s a good chance Keegan is capable of being much better than we ever anticipated (unless you were wildly optimistic and placed a wager on Keegan winning MVP this year or something). Then again, this is probably just the preseason hype and small sample size talking
Click to expand...
I agree and I definitely don't want to overhype him too much from just the summer league and preseason. The real question should be how many minutes do you we think Murray will play as a starter in the all star game this year?
 
Tetsujin said:
I’m not as familiar with his game as the growing number of Hawkeye fans on this board are (I only really started tuning in to Iowa/Big Ten games when the Kings started really looking bad enough to be in the draft range for the top Big 10 players) but there were times where Kris would look like the better twin on the floor for Iowa. He’s not the natural scorer that Keegan is but he was by far the better ball-handler of the two and he does a lot of role player-ey things that I feel like will translate to the next level (both of them are really good rebounders for their size and Kris was a better on-the-ball defender than Keegan but some of that may have just been because Keegan was tired from having to carry the team on his back on offense every night). The things that separate Keegan from Kris are the shooting touch (Kris put up fairly good numbers from the perimeter but his free throw shooting hovered around the 60% mark all season and he hasn’t shown the ability to get unstoppably hot like Keegan has) and athleticism (despite being identical twins, Keegan is probably a bit longer and a little quicker than his brother).

That said, Kris probably can be at least a solid rotation 3-and-D combo forward for a good decade or so in the league. I know it’s a bit of a lazy comp what with the whole twin angle being a thing but I feel like he could fill a Marcus Morris-type plus stretch forward role in the league and that’s one of the more sought after player archetypes in the modern NBA right now. I certainly wouldn’t mind him being on the Kings.
Click to expand...
NBA Draft Scouting Report: Iowa's Kris Murray
After not playing much as a freshman at Iowa, Murray had a solid sophomore campaign. Known for being a 3-point shooter, he knocked down nearly 40% of his triples last season. What's more impressive is that he stands at 6-foot-8 and is also solid on the defensive end.

At this point, it doesn't appear Murray has the same overall upside as his brother, but does project to be a quality role player at the NBA level. He's got great size for a 3-and-D wing and also has a ton of experience under his belt. The fact that he will be 23 at the start of the 2023-24 NBA season will limit his ceiling on draft night, but still could help a playoff team immediately.
https://www.si.com/nba/draft/prospe...ay#gid=ci02a96ff6100026a3&pid=usatsi_18557254

 
I wonder how Kris would slot in as long term replacement for HB? Can he be that dude?
 
pdxKingsFan said:
I wonder how Kris would slot in as long term replacement for HB? Can he be that dude?
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That may be entirely over-optimistic. At this point (and hey, I suppose we wait for the season to play out) Kris is more like a second-round pick than a lotto guy like HB. Role guys are great, and I'd certainly want to keep an eye on him, but until and unless he shows out in his junior year like Keegan did in his sophomore year, we ought to tamp down that kind of enthusiasm.
 
Capt. Factorial said:
That may be entirely over-optimistic. At this point (and hey, I suppose we wait for the season to play out) Kris is more like a second-round pick than a lotto guy like HB. Role guys are great, and I'd certainly want to keep an eye on him, but until and unless he shows out in his junior year like Keegan did in his sophomore year, we ought to tamp down that kind of enthusiasm.
Click to expand...
I thought I heard him described as an 18-24 range pick rather than a second rounder.

I'm also willing to concede just about every second rounder fancies themselves as an 18-24 pick, if not expecting a green room invite.
 
pdxKingsFan said:
I thought I heard him described as an 18-24 range pick rather than a second rounder.

I'm also willing to concede just about every second rounder fancies themselves as an 18-24 pick, if not expecting a green room invite.
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's probably the case - everybody thinks they're going to go in the late first. I think with Kris it's really a question of what he looks like (presumably) carrying the Hawkeyes this year. I'll be watching some for sure!
 
ShastaKingsFan said:
Who had an odd idea for him to play 5? He's a lot more likely to play 3
Click to expand...

"Murray doesn't need plays called for him to be effective and should be able to play as a stretch-4 alongside Domantas Sabonis, as well as smaller lineups as a small-ball center with Harrison Barnes," Givony wrote.


Convos on here was whether he could. I was skeptical. If he can, he has premium value--kinda like Horford. So far, small ball center projections from Givony, O'Connor and others seems wayyy offf.
 
kb02 said:
"Murray doesn't need plays called for him to be effective and should be able to play as a stretch-4 alongside Domantas Sabonis, as well as smaller lineups as a small-ball center with Harrison Barnes," Givony wrote.


Convos on here was whether he could. I was skeptical. If he can, he has premium value--kinda like Horford. So far, small ball center projections from Givony, O'Connor and others seems wayyy offf.
Click to expand...

This idea was almost as bad as Vlade thinking that Bagley could play the 3
 
kb02 said:
"Murray doesn't need plays called for him to be effective and should be able to play as a stretch-4 alongside Domantas Sabonis, as well as smaller lineups as a small-ball center with Harrison Barnes," Givony wrote.


Convos on here was whether he could. I was skeptical. If he can, he has premium value--kinda like Horford. So far, small ball center projections from Givony, O'Connor and others seems wayyy offf.
Click to expand...

Murray's value is as a versatile 4/3 forward. No reason to have your star forward play any center. Givony was way off on that assesment.
 
Tetsujin said:
Click to expand...

Take away the label of 2, 3 or 4. Basically, Brown is saying he can put Keegan in with any lineup with a ball handler and a big body to handle opposing Cs and they can work out the rest because of his versatility. Sounds ideal.
 
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positionless basketball. like jazz. as long as Coach Brown doesn't employ a cherry picker we're all good.
 
Livinthedream said:
Take away the label of 2, 3 or 4. Basically, Brown is saying he can put Keegan in with any lineup with a ball handler and a big body to handle opposing Cs and they can work out the rest because if his versatility. Sounds ideal.
Click to expand...

It's also important to note that we've gained some size this year, so guys like Keegan will have a bit more opportunity to play in big-ball lineups. Last year, we gave essentially half of our minutes (49.8%) to guys at 6'6" and under (and 46.3% to guys 6'5" and under, including 4 of our top 5 players in total minutes). This year, we're going to start 4 guys at 6'7"+ (assuming Huerter sticks at the starting 2).

Assuming Metu doesn't get axed, we'll have 9 guys at 6'7"+ on our opening day roster, with 6-7 definitely getting minutes
Sabonis
Murray
Barnes
Huerter
Holmes
Okpala
Lyles
Len
Metu

And only 6 guys at 6'6" and under, with only 3-4 definitely getting minutes
Fox
Mitchell
Monk
Davis
Third string PG (Delly/Cook)
Last Man Standing (Bazemore/Moneke/Merrill)

We're not a HUGE team, but it's nice to not be so stinkin' small anymore.
 
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