Welcome Keegan Murray!

#93
Between Davion and Keegan, Monte has drafted total basketball robots who do nothing but workout and think about basketball in the last two drafts.

That's right. He's drafted two San Antonio Spurs.
Keegan is such a Spurs type player. It isn't surprising that the Spurs and Pacers wanted to trade up to get Keegan.

Funny thing is if the Spurs had traded up and picked Keegan, it would be lauded as a good pick.
 
#94
Interesting tidbit from that article


Most don’t know that Keegan is actually left-handed, despite shooting with his right (he writes and does everything else with his left). His father, Kenyon, who also played for Iowa from 1993 to 1996, was a lefty in disguise as well, passing down the family trade. He thought his boys could benefit from fooling opponents into forcing them to their dominant hands (Kris bucked tradition, opting to shoot left-handed).
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
#98
I hope he plays with a huge chip on his shoulder after all the talk of the Kings drafting for need (him) over talent (Ivey) and Detroit getting a steal (implication: the Kings got ripped off). I want to see some physicallity from him from the get-go. He'll never remind one of Dominic Wilkins or Shawn Kemp; he's got to be a physical bruiser who can hit the open 3 and play the right way. First step: Be the best player in summer league.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
My son did hot shots and it was the worst thing I have ever witnessed as a fan of real basketball.

Seemed like that was that but he is playing middle school basketball and while he isn't a standout on the team he can crossover and do things I can't. I still beat him on one on one though :cool:

I am sure her kid just didn't like basketball but most 5 year olds are just god awful at it.
 

Kingster

Hall of Famer
Murray is the type of player I'd normally be against drafting. He's fairly old for a rookie, scored a lot inside against younger, weaker players, not an elite athlete and while very solid in a lot of ways, he has some holes in his game that could prevent him from being a great player.

But I'm okay with the pick just because of the growth he's shown the last few years. It gives me hope that he will have a bigger development curve than most players his age generally do once they reach the NBA.

For that to be the case, Murray will have to have a few things happen:

1. His outside shooting will need to translate. I think that's pretty likely to happen.
2. He'll have to become more of a secondary option and develop his passing/playmaking. I think there's a good chance he does.
3. He'll need to improve his handle considerably so that he can improve as a shot creator. IMO this is the least likely to happen.

But he'll have a successful rookie season if he can just hit outside shots, play decent defense, rebound a bit, and make smart cuts off ball. Whether he develops beyond being a solid, complimentary piece will depend on if his game can take another jump. I hope so.
I think he can improve his handle, but "considerably" probably not. He's probably never going to be a Banchero in that regard. I'd add:

4. He needs to be an aggressive, agitating, physical defender. I would think Mike Brown would show him a lot of tapes of Draymond Green.
 

pdxKingsFan

So Ordinary That It's Truly Quite Extraordinary
Staff member
My first night at university I shared a cigarette with some kid that was boasting about playing basketball in high school against Webber or Rose. (which fine, my school lost to Jason Kidd's team in the NorCal semifinal, but I am not sure I'd brag about it).

Anyhow, not that I feel like a spring chicken but that makes me feel old.
 
I want to out this here, instead of the game thread.

We finally are drafting intelligent, high BBIQ, defensive minded players who do what they do well.

Will a player drafted lower than Keegan end up being better? Probably.

Will that player be Ivey? Maybe

Will Keegan end up better than one of the players drafted above him? Possibly.

Does he do all facets of the game as good as a current AS wing? No, no he does not.

I understand that data states that younger players that hit X marks have a higher upside and blah blah blah. This isn’t a sport where you draft and sign 30-50 players a year (baseball) you get a couple and hope one of them pans out.

let’s let this young man show what he can do, he’s done nothing to cause concern and if a loose handle from a rookie 4 is what we are focusing on, then that is pretty fantastic.