Minnesota Timberwolves: Scouting Jordan Murphy
By Ethan Becker
The Good
As stated earlier: potential. That’s the word that comes to mind with Murphy’s play, and there have been NBA players who have made a career on a lot less.
Stepping outside of the stat box for a moment, Murphy looks really good. He knows his spots well, and is smart to play to his strengths. He also just looks really calm when he’s playing, and he doesn’t seem too rushed.
Stepping back into the stat box, Murphy’s Summer League stats don’t really do all that much to represent his game in college. With Minnesota, Murphy averaged 14.4 points, 11.0 rebounds, 0.8 blocks and 0.6 steals per game in his final year. He also found himself making improvements throughout his collegiate career. At one point, he was shooting 52 percent from the field and 31 percent from 3. He also had a better free throw percentage in college, shooting 68.3 percent from the line in his final year.
A big reason for Murphy’s diminished stats in Summer League could be the lack of time he sees. The 12.0 minutes per game he’s averaging is only the length of one NBA quarter, and is just a little bit longer than one Summer League quarter — not a whole lot of time to get things done.
Murphy is also incredible strong down low. At one point in the Timberwolves’ July 7 game against the Milwaukee Bucks, he drove from the top of the key to the low block four times, and made the shot three of those times while also picking up a foul on each make to give him a chance for a 3-point play. In that game, Murphy went 4-for-5 from the free throw line.