Power Forward #4: Kris Murray, Iowa
Smart minds on NBA draft Twitter have floated an interesting thought exercise about Kris Murray when compared to his brother: if Keegan Murray was good enough to be a top-five pick last year, why isn’t Kris? What is so different about the two?
On paper, it’s hard to find a discrepancy: Murray averaged more than twenty points, shot at a solid clip from the field and from deep for his volume, and brought enough burst as a rebounder to not be one-dimensional. In fact, he also averaged over a block and steal per game, which hints he may have more defensive potential than his brother in the NBA:
one notable difference between kris murray and his brother is kris's defensive skills, notably, his mobility and agility at that size are impressive in sticking with real wing sized guys pic.twitter.com/7si87WzCyK
— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) May 26, 2023
Murray doesn’t have the same sniper potential that Keegan had coming out of Iowa, which does dull his ceiling, but he should nonetheless be a solid power forward in the NBA that can and should start for a team sooner than later. Teams like Golden State, Houston, and Brooklyn would be getting a solid late steal if they grabbed him with their mid-first-round picks.