Keegan “KEEGAN MURRAY” Murray

[iowamcnabb]

I'm really excited to see what Keegan can do with his offseason. He made huge strides on defense from year one to year two so now its back to growing his offensive game. He actually made a lot of strides on that end as well but still has plenty to work on. His rookie year he got blocked at the rim a bunch and he drastically reduced that. He is a big body and strong, he must take it to the rack hard every time and he will get a few more trips to the line. I liked the midrange improvement but he can do more. Use that size. I don't have the numbers but he was below 30 percent from 3 for the first two months of the season, really dragging down his percentage. His final number was not bad considering that start. The handle is closer to Jimmer than Kyrie haha so that is the second biggest improvement we need from him other than consistent aggression. I actually think he has some playmaking skills buried in there, he doesn't turn the ball over and makes mostly sharp passes. If he can drive and kick for a mouth watering spray three, Mike will be thrilled. My target for him is 18 points a game and 38 percent or higher from 3 in this third year.

 

[coolhandluke]

Let's keep the expectations higher. Keegan should be at least MPJ with defense. He should develop to be the #2 scorer with 20+ PPG 7+ RPG 2+ APG 1+ BPG 1+ SPG. He needs to develop an aggressive mindset and learn to use his strong body and length. He needs to understand that he can get a shot off anytime with his high release without worrying about getting blocked. It's a matter of identifying your spots on the floor and getting to it. Once you get to your spot, it's just a practice shot. He's sneaky athletic and has improved his vertical since getting to the league. He should be a lob threat and provide vertical spacing for the Kings offense.

There's a stark difference in his performance at home (17.5 PTS 5.8 RBS @ 47.5FG% 40.3 3PT%) vs the road (13 PTS 5.1 RBS @ 43.1FG% 30.9 3PT%). He needs to come out of his comfort zone with friendly crowds and embrace the hostility of an away crowd. He had good mental discipline but he needs to stop second guessing himself. When he does that, the turnovers and hurried shots come and he goes into a shell retreating to the corners instead of trying to get open. His lack of ball handling means he is dependent on others and play calls. Improved ballhandling and well designed play calls from the coaches should blow open his ceiling. Dare I say that we have underutilized Keegan. He would have been a 20+ PPG guy with the Warriors.

Overall, for a guy who was panned at the draft for having a "low ceiling", he has shown enough to support Monte's conviction. He needs to realize that being timid is doing a disservice to his talents. He has the pathway to become a legit two way Star but whether he will rise to it will come down to his mentality.

 

[Section 101]

I'm really excited to see what Keegan can do with his offseason. He made huge strides on defense from year one to year two so now its back to growing his offensive game. He actually made a lot of strides on that end as well but still has plenty to work on. His rookie year he got blocked at the rim a bunch and he drastically reduced that. He is a big body and strong, he must take it to the rack hard every time and he will get a few more trips to the line. I liked the midrange improvement but he can do more. Use that size. I don't have the numbers but he was below 30 percent from 3 for the first two months of the season, really dragging down his percentage. His final number was not bad considering that start. The handle is closer to Jimmer than Kyrie haha so that is the second biggest improvement we need from him other than consistent aggression. I actually think he has some playmaking skills buried in there, he doesn't turn the ball over and makes mostly sharp passes. If he can drive and kick for a mouth watering spray three, Mike will be thrilled. My target for him is 18 points a game and 38 percent or higher from 3 in this third year.

He needs to learn the high post from Domas.

 

[Tizzy Flip]

Let's keep the expectations higher. Keegan should be at least MPJ with defense. He should develop to be the #2 scorer with 20+ PPG 7+ RPG 2+ APG 1+ BPG 1+ SPG. He needs to develop an aggressive mindset and learn to use his strong body and length. He needs to understand that he can get a shot off anytime with his high release without worrying about getting blocked. It's a matter of identifying your spots on the floor and getting to it. Once you get to your spot, it's just a practice shot. He's sneaky athletic and has improved his vertical since getting to the league. He should be a lob threat and provide vertical spacing for the Kings offense.

There's a stark difference in his performance at home (17.5 PTS 5.8 RBS @ 47.5FG% 40.3 3PT%) vs the road (13 PTS 5.1 RBS @ 43.1FG% 30.9 3PT%). He needs to come out of his comfort zone with friendly crowds and embrace the hostility of an away crowd. He had good mental discipline but he needs to stop second guessing himself. When he does that, the turnovers and hurried shots come and he goes into a shell retreating to the corners instead of trying to get open. His lack of ball handling means he is dependent on others and play calls. Improved ballhandling and well designed play calls from the coaches should blow open his ceiling. Dare I say that we have underutilized Keegan. He would have been a 20+ PPG guy with the Warriors.

Overall, for a guy who was panned at the draft for having a "low ceiling", he has shown enough to support Monte's conviction. He needs to realize that being timid is doing a disservice to his talents. He has the pathway to become a legit two way Star but whether he will rise to it will come down to his mentality.

Agree with all of this. If we want to make a big leap next year, his year 3 trajectory needs to closely mirror Scottie Barnes

 

[iowamcnabb]

Let's keep the expectations higher. Keegan should be at least MPJ with defense. He should develop to be the #2 scorer with 20+ PPG 7+ RPG 2+ APG 1+ BPG 1+ SPG. He needs to develop an aggressive mindset and learn to use his strong body and length. He needs to understand that he can get a shot off anytime with his high release without worrying about getting blocked. It's a matter of identifying your spots on the floor and getting to it. Once you get to your spot, it's just a practice shot. He's sneaky athletic and has improved his vertical since getting to the league. He should be a lob threat and provide vertical spacing for the Kings offense.

There's a stark difference in his performance at home (17.5 PTS 5.8 RBS @ 47.5FG% 40.3 3PT%) vs the road (13 PTS 5.1 RBS @ 43.1FG% 30.9 3PT%). He needs to come out of his comfort zone with friendly crowds and embrace the hostility of an away crowd. He had good mental discipline but he needs to stop second guessing himself. When he does that, the turnovers and hurried shots come and he goes into a shell retreating to the corners instead of trying to get open. His lack of ball handling means he is dependent on others and play calls. Improved ballhandling and well designed play calls from the coaches should blow open his ceiling. Dare I say that we have underutilized Keegan. He would have been a 20+ PPG guy with the Warriors.

Overall, for a guy who was panned at the draft for having a "low ceiling", he has shown enough to support Monte's conviction. He needs to realize that being timid is doing a disservice to his talents. He has the pathway to become a legit two way Star but whether he will rise to it will come down to his mentality.

I agree that MPJ + is a really good outcome for him. Numbers wise he isn’t far off, MPJ averaged 16.7 this year to Keegan’s 15.2. 20 ppg is certainly possible but I think it’s tougher to get there than people think, Porter’s career high was 19 a game a few years ago. As you said aggression is the key and also not sucking from 3 for 2 months would help haha.

 

[The_Jamal]

Good interview with Fox this morning and he had some interesting things to say about Murray's development: he needs to get better as a ball handler, especially with the pick and roll and he needs to be willing to "not give a damn" if he doesn't make shots and continue to be aggressive. Murray's game was affected when he wasn't making shots, per Fox.

I think that checks out. He had some absolutely monster games/stretches offensively this season, but if he struggled a bit, he went right back to being rookie defer everything version of Keegan.

I think what Fox is saying is it doesn't matter if he starts 0-7. Dude better still be firing and putting up shots because they need him to be that guy offensively (especially if we lose Monk) next season.

 

[dude12]

I’m going to bet that Monte is exploring trade ideas involving Keegan but with the stipulation that we would be getting a young borderline all-star in return that is already established…..like the Haliburton and Domas trade.

I don’t think it will happen but I think you need to look at it. The difference between trading Hali and Keegan is that we had Fox at the same position as Hali. Don’t really have a replacement on the roster as good as Keegan.

 

[ockingsfan]

I’m going to bet that Monte is exploring trade ideas involving Keegan but with the stipulation that we would be getting a young borderline all-star in return that is already established…..like the Haliburton and Domas trade.

I don’t think it will happen but I think you need to look at it. The difference between trading Hali and Keegan is that we had Fox at the same position as Hali. Don’t really have a replacement on the roster as good as Keegan.

Gosh, I really hope Monte does not trade Keegan. It would be a Hali situation all over again where we send out a young upcoming stud for more immediate help. Trading Hali was bearable only because we had 2 stud PGs. I don’t think I could stand watching Keegan blossom somewhere else.

Monte needs to move anyone not named Fox, Sabonis, and Keegan to improve the roster.

 

[pdxKingsFan]

It would be foolish to trade Keegan because you'd have to trade a lot more salary to get equal value and presumably you want more immediate returns. You'd probably have to trade 3 contracts to get a guy whose current production matches Keegan's potential, then go and backfill those players. When we're already at risk of losing Monk.

If there is a godfather type deal ok sure but some kind of panic move because you won 46 games and in a fluke missed the playoffs that is a surefire way back to suckitude.

 

[206Fan]

Gosh, I really hope Monte does not trade Keegan. It would be a Hali situation all over again where we send out a young upcoming stud for more immediate help. Trading Hali was bearable only because we had 2 stud PGs. I don’t think I could stand watching Keegan blossom somewhere else.

Monte needs to move anyone not named Fox, Sabonis, and Keegan to improve the roster.

I don’t think it will be a Haliburton situation because I think Hali showed flashes of being a franchise player. Keegan’s upside would be an elite wing, but not a franchise guy. But that is my concern as well. What if we trade away Keegan and he has newfound confidence out of nowhere and turns into a 23+ppg scorer? Don’t think any of us could stomach that…

I would only consider moving Keegan for an established star who makes us a true playoff threat.

I agree that MPJ + is a really good outcome for him. Numbers wise he isn’t far off, MPJ averaged 16.7 this year to Keegan’s 15.2. 20 ppg is certainly possible but I think it’s tougher to get there than people think, Porter’s career high was 19 a game a few years ago. As you said aggression is the key and also not sucking from 3 for 2 months would help haha.

I’m a huge MPJ fan and would’ve happily taken him at #2 in the Luka draft. MPJ is an elite shooter on a completely different level than Keegan. I don’t think they have much similarities in their games aside from being tall shooting forwards who have perceived limited self-creation. I think MPJ holds back on his scoring and shot creating because he knows his that Denver needs his role to be an elite floor spacer on their championship team.

With that being said, I think Keegan has potential to be a better scorer than MPJ. I think Keegan has true potential to be a 3-level scorer and can provide down-hill attacking with the ability to stop and hit turn around jumpers or take it all the way to the hoop. We haven’t seen it consistently from him, but it’s there. He has that skillset, but I think he lacks the confidence. He’s a good shooter, but I don’t think he’s good enough to fall back on it like this. I don’t like us trying to make him a supersized Klay, I don’t think his stroke is on that level. Have to make him put the ball on the floor a lot more, especially when teams attack the DHO the way they have during our loses. When his 3pt shot doesn’t fall, he has to find other ways to get points.

 

[Kingster]

I think that checks out. He had some absolutely monster games/stretches offensively this season, but if he struggled a bit, he went right back to being rookie defer everything version of Keegan.

I think what Fox is saying is it doesn't matter if he starts 0-7. Dude better still be firing and putting up shots because they need him to be that guy offensively (especially if we lose Monk) next season.

Yes. Murray's development has more to do with what is between the ears than in any particular skill. I still say the best thing I've ever seen him do is run like a freaking fast moving train around a screen at top of the 3-point line, receive the ball, stop on a dime, and bury the 3. I just don't know why we don't see more of that. It's incredibly difficult to defend from that spot on the floor, and if the opposing team does defend it then an easy back-door is available. So why doesn't the coaching staff demand more of that?