San Antonio Spurs: Dejounte Murray Is The Future

With Tony Parker quickly declining, it’s pretty clear that Dejounte Murray is the future at point guard for the San Antonio Spurs

San Antonio Spurs rookie Dejounte Murray’s start to his NBA career wasn’t quite the start that he expected. He probably didn’t expect to be on the inactive list for 11 games, or play in 13 NBA D-league games.

If you scroll through his game log this season, you would think that he has been injured, considering it is filled with zeros in the minutes column. Not all first rounders are guaranteed to play right away, which can have an effect on your mental game, especially if you were a star on the college stage.

Going from top of the world to riding the bench isn’t an easy transition. Murray was selected with the 29th overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, and has had to wait for his opportunity patiently.

Murray was the 49th overall recruit in 2015 on the ESPN top 100 chart out of Rainier Beach High School in Seattle. Well-known as a basketball school, Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson also attended Rainier Beach High School. Murray averaged 16.1 points, 4.4 assists, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.8 steals for his one season at Washington.

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As his freshman season progressed, Murray started to rise up draft boards along with his fellow freshman teammate, Marquese Chriss. His length and size for the point guard position started to draw the attention of many NBA scouts. By the end of the season, the Chad Fords of the world had Murray as a lottery pick for the upcoming 2016 NBA draft.

Murray and Chriss both decided to enter the NBA after their freshman seasons. Murray and Chriss were both invited to the green room on draft night. Despite his projection to go in or near the lottery, Murray was selected by the San Antonio Spurs with the 29th pick in the draft. This was definitely a disappointment for Murray. His selection at 29 was shockingly similar to the 2001 draft, when Tony Parker was selected 28th overall.

"[via San Antonio Express News]Murray’s high school coach in Seattle believes Murray will embrace Popovich and all the Spurs have to offer in terms of player development.“As a kid, you want to be drafted high. But at the end of the day, you want to go to a great organization with a great coach, someone who will help you grow as a player and as a person, and coach Pop is the blueprint for that,” North Rainer High School’s Mike Bethea said. “Dejounte will do whatever they ask him to do and he won’t do it with an attitude or a chip on his shoulder. He’s the ultimate team player.”Huskies coach Lorenzo Romar said the Spurs will learn that in Murray they have gained a gym-rat cousin to Leonard.“He just has an innate love of the game,” Romar said of Murray. “You want to make him comfortable, so you say to him, ‘You want to go shopping? You want to get something to eat.’ But he says, ‘No, just show me the gym. You guys do what you want, and I’ll be fine there.’”"

Tony Parker’s recent knee injury has opened up the gates for Murray to show off his talent and skills. He has started the last two games (three overall this season), and has been absolutely terrific.

Murray in a win over Denver: 34 minutes, 24 points, 7-11 from the field, 2 assists, 1 turnover
Murray in a win over the Cleveland: 22 minutes, 14 points, 7-10 from the field, 6 assists, 2 turnovers.

At 6-foot-5, Murray has great size and length for his position. He is quick and can get to the rim, he has a floater game, and he can shoot from three-point range as well. He also has the ability to be outstanding on the defensive side of the ball. He has been sensational and Patty Mills coming off the bench takes some pressure off of Murray.

In the OT win over the Cavs most recently, Mills played down the stretch in the 4th quarter and in OT. In a big game on the road against a big time opponent, Popovich was able to ease Murray in, so he didn’t have to feel all the pressure.

What has made Murray’s past two games so impressive is that he has gone from not playing a single minute to becoming a starter. He remained prepared and ready when his name was called upon and he was able to deliver for his teammates. For a 20-year-old to come out and have two games like this, it says a lot about him. He has kept his game fresh by playing in the D-league, and when called upon to start for the injured Tony Parker, he was ready for the challenge.

Tony Parker is 34 years of age, and will be 35 in May. Murray was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs in hopes of one day being able to take the reins from Parker. Murray became the youngest player in Spurs franchise history to score 24 or more points in a game, which was previously held by Parker in 2002.

Although the Murray experiment as the starting point guard is only a small sample size, you can tell that he is something special. And he is just scratching the surface. He plays freely out there and he’s not afraid to make mistakes, which is what Popovich preaches to his young players. Don’t think about the game too much, just go out and play, which has made Kawhi Leonard extremely successful in his development into a superstar.

The San Antonio Spurs are tremendous with young player development, and they got a unique talent late in the first round. A story like Dejounte Murray is why NBA fans should love the NBA. A player who is supposed to be a lottery pick is selected at the end of the first round, spends the majority of his time either on the bench or in the D-league, and then ultimately produces at a high level as an NBA starter.

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This is just the beginning for Murray, and stories like his are what makes the NBA so great.