{"id":122,"date":"2016-08-28T15:56:12","date_gmt":"2016-08-28T20:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonprobasketball.com\/?p=122"},"modified":"2016-08-30T14:46:19","modified_gmt":"2016-08-30T19:46:19","slug":"denver-nuggets-player-preview-jamal-murray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2016\/08\/28\/denver-nuggets-player-preview-jamal-murray\/","title":{"rendered":"2016-17 Denver Nuggets Player Preview: Jamal Murray"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the 2016 NBA Draft<\/strong>, the Denver\u00a0Nuggets<\/strong> took a plunge into the deep end of the depth pool when they drafted guard Jamal Murray<\/strong>. After a one and done season with the Kentucky Wildcats<\/strong>, the Nuggets saw enough to draft\u00a0the talented guard\u00a0with the seventh pick in this year’s draft.\u00a0While early indications are that\u00a0Denver has found more than Nemo<\/strong>, only time will tell whether the Nuggets will be swimming with the sharks or\u00a0wading with the guppies in the Western Conference<\/strong>. In welcoming Jamal Murray\u00a0to Denver, lets take a look at how the talented young guard.<\/p>\n

2016-17 Denver Nuggets Player Preview: Jamal Murray<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Scoring<\/strong><\/h3>\n

For a rabid fan base that is eager for some offensive production,\u00a0Jamal Murray\u00a0will be a welcomed addition. In his one and done season with Kentucky,\u00a0the\u00a0scoring savant averaged 20.0\u00a0points while logging 35.2 minutes per game. These numbers are attractive in their own right, but become staggering when viewed in offensive efficiency. Shooting 45.4% from the field,\u00a0he\u00a0is one of the more polished shooters in this rookie class. 40.8% from 3 point range is a solid working number that the Nuggets will regularly work into their rotation. Measuring in at 6′-5″,\u00a0he\u00a0is able to use his size to create mismatches and get to the line. While the Nuggets will look to improve his 78.3% rate of return from the charity stripe, it’s a good starting point for the rookie grow from.<\/p>\n

Assists<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Although Jamal Murray\u00a0played point guard at Kentucky, his college statistics leave one to wonder if his game will translate as a point guard in the NBA. Based on last year’s performance,\u00a0his offensive talent might be best served for the shooting guard role in Denver’s offense. If there is an opportunity for growth in his offensive game, it would be in\u00a0the assist category. During his lone season with the Wildcats,\u00a0he\u00a0put up a paltry 2.2 assists per game. With many exciting\u00a0offensive weapons in\u00a0the young Nuggets rotation, it is feasible to expect this statistic\u00a0to improve. But how much? And does it justify playing the floor general role in Denver’s offense? These are going to be questions that the Nuggets brass must address moving forward.<\/p>\n

Rebounding<\/strong><\/h3>\n

An understated element of Jamal Murray’s game is that he is a capable rebounder at the guard position. He\u00a0contributed a handsome 5.2 rebounds per game for John Calipari<\/strong> last season. While averaging 3.7 defensive rebounds per game and 1.5 offensive rebounds per game,\u00a0he was able to effectively create five additional offensive opportunities for his team. Defensive stops and extra offensive opportunities are going to be huge in determining the success or failure of the Nuggets\u00a02016-17 season. 5.2 rebounds per game won’t set the world on fire,\u00a0but\u00a0are a welcome addition to a Denver roster in need of improved performance across the board. One can only become excited at the potential for the board to break possibilities within this offense.<\/p>\n

Defense<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Another area\u00a0of opportunity for Jamal Murray as he develops will be his contribution on the defensive end. While not exactly a liability on defense,\u00a0his development on defensive end\u00a0is still\u00a0a work in progress. After averaging 1.0 steals and 0.3 blocks per game at Kentucky, there are a lot of question marks on the defensive end. If the Nuggets are wise in their player development, this will be an area of focus. One statistic to build on is\u00a0his 2.1 fouls per game. He\u00a0can\u00a0become more assertive on the defensive end, without becoming a liability in terms of fouls. It will be interesting to see how Denver uses\u00a0his unique\u00a0size to create mismatches on defense, which could play a huge role in\u00a0his development as a player.<\/p>\n

2016-17 Outlook<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Look for\u00a0Jamal Murray to emerge as\u00a0a legitimate Rookie of the Year<\/strong> candidate in 2016-17 based on offensive prowess alone.\u00a0Owning\u00a0a polished offensive skill set\u00a0at such a young age is something that cannot be taught.\u00a0Assuming he\u00a0embraces the role of facilitator, the sky is the limit for this Nuggets offense. A rim hawk at Kentucky, it is not unrealistic to expect 5-7 rebounds per game from the rookie. If\u00a0he is able to lock down on defense,\u00a0the defense to offense opportunities will make\u00a0Denver exciting to watch.\u00a0After an off-season of anticipation for things to come, Jamal Murray will not disappoint in his rookie season.\u00a0Expect to\u00a0see a high upside player develop into a consistent contributor\u00a0in an exciting\u00a0rotation for the Nuggets.<\/p>\n

Main Photo<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n
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After a season of transition, the Denver Nuggets took a plunge into the deep end of the depth pool when they drafted guard Jamal Murray.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1635,"featured_media":176,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"needs photo","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,2,62],"tags":[65,108,109,96],"class_list":["post-122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nuggets","category-featured","category-nba","tag-basketball","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-jamal-murray","tag-nba"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1635"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}