The Canadian men’s squad was considered one of the teams to beat coming into the Olympics. The men’s national team was coming off their best World Cup performance, finishing with the bronze medal. Expectations were high, with the Canadians bringing that same medaling roster to the Olympics, plus more NBA talent, including MVP runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, NBA champion Jamal Murray, and Pacer Andrew Nembhard. Canada lived up to the expectations in the group stage, going 3-0 despite Murray struggling to impact the game. In the quarterfinals against France, Canada needed Murray, but like in group play, Murray struggled to have any positive impact. Through four games, Murray averaged just six points on 29% shooting from the field and was one of Canada’s worst players.
Jamal Murray Struggles On International Stage
What Does This Mean For The Nuggets?
Murray is up for a max contract extension this summer that could see him make up to $209 million. For the Nuggets, this means they will be a second-apron team, maybe not next season, but the following one after Aaron Gordon gets a new contract and the young guys need new deals. The second apron is exceptionally punitive and locks any team past it into their current roster. For a team to go by it, they have to be 100% positive their team can win a chip. That was a more straightforward answer for the Nuggets last year, but not so much anymore.
Not only did Murray look horrible at the Olympics, but he is coming off his worst postseason. His outside shot completely disappeared, and Murray lacked the burst needed to get into the paint and make something happen. This is because Murray entered last postseason injured, which explains his poor play. Unfortunately, Murray has been healthy for just two out of the previous five postseasons and is always banged up in the regular season. Murray isn’t getting any younger and will only have more injury concerns as he ages.
The Regular Season Matters
In the postseason, Murray is unquestionably a max-contract player, but what about the other 82 games? His regular-season impact tends to fall short of what he can do in the postseason when healthy. This is reflected in the fact that Murray has never been an all-star or made an All-NBA team. Murray’s regular-season production is more in line with a guy like CJ McCollum than an All-Star like De’Aaron Fox. This forces Nikola Jokic to carry a massive offensive load during the regular season because the Nuggets lack a second star to split the load. Jokic can handle that load for an entire season but can’t do it both for the full 82 games plus another 16 wins in the playoffs. Murray has consistently performed better when the lights were bright, but that doesn’t mean his dances in the shadows don’t matter.
The rest of the Western Conference has improved this offseason, while the Nuggets have gotten worse. Signing Murray to a max contract locks them into this roster and could turn the golden era of Nuggets basketball into the golden year of 2023.
