By Dane Carbaugh

Jamal Murray is one of the most well-rounded young prospects in college basketball. Standing at 6-foot-4, 207 pounds, the Canadian national is a tough matchup for positions 1-3 at Kentucky. What’s even more interesting is how his calculated approach and deceptive positioning may translate at the next level.

Murray can most often be found running around multiple screens and in wing pick-and-roll action for John Calipari. While he’s not a speedster, he knows how to play angles well and his quick-rising jumper means he’s a triple threat as soon as he has the ball.

He’s comfortable taking exceedingly long 3-pointers, but can also make smart decisions with the ball in his hands, especially for someone of his experience level. At times, he defers too often to teammates or chooses to stay out of the lane, much to the chagrin of his coach.

But Murray is an exceptional talent, with skills that don’t take a high level of athleticism. He’s got a perfect base to work off of as he learns the game at the collegiate and professional level.

Let’s take a look at what makes the dynamic sharp-shooting Wildcat so appealing to NBA GMs.

Versatility

The allure of Murray as a prospect is his ability to transition from ball handler to off-ball guard from possession to possession. Or, even within the same possession.

Murray can be found off ball much of the time for Kentucky, playing as deep at small forward for John Calipari. He runs flex cuts through the middle of the floor in the halfcourt with ease, and although he’s not particularly speedy, takes efficient routes to confuse defenders off multiple screens.


In the example above, we see Murray start at the top of the screen and move through the middle of the floor to the opposite wing. A lot of Calipari’s action for Murray is with pick-and-roll or ball screen action on the left wing.

When Murray dumps the ball down to the post, we see both high defenders in Albany’s 3-2 zone ball watching. Murray sees it too, and immediately flashes to the corner.

This prompts an overreaction by the Great Danes due to Murray’s reputation as a 3-point shooter, and he takes advantage of it. After driving baseline, it’s a pass away from an easy Wildcats bucket.

Now, that’s  Murray’s usability as a shooter and wing player. He’s just as able to contribute with the ball in his hands during the same type of sets.


With the example above this time, we see Murray make the same cut off a pick at the top of the screen. This time it’s man defense, and Murray does what he can to balance the floor as the ball swings from side-to-side.

Duke defends the action well, and it forces Murray to take over with the ball in his hands late in the shot clock. This is where Murray goes to work more often than not: straight on top of one of the lane lines, calling for a pick from the deepest post.

Thanks to his excellent ball handling and foresight, Murray is able to split the pick-and-roll defense and dump it off for an alley-oop.

Although these two sets start out with the same action, and Murray is playing a 2 / 3 position, he’s able to impact the offense both on and off the ball.

3-point Shooting

Murray is a significant 3-point threat, taking jumpers well beyond the college line with ease. His shot has a repeatable form, and his rise is incredibly quick. His load isn’t the fastest you’ll see, but because of how he elevates off the dribble or the pass it’s hard to get a hand in his face.

Check out this example of a player getting a hand up on Murray:


You can see that the Albany player gets a hand up enough to contest Murray but not enough to alter his shot or bother his vision on the rim.

In a second example, you can see Murray devastating a defender who goes under the pick with a quick pull-up jumper:


As Murray goes to his left, the defender tries to recover. In fact, you can see that although Murray is in great position compared to where the defender starts, he still gets challenged quite a bit.

The Albany player even gives Murray a little tap on the forearm after the shot. However, because Murray elevates so quickly, he’s able to focus on the rim at the top of his shot while simultaneously keeping his shot out of harm’s reach.

As we’ve seen earlier, Murray is able to act as a ball handler or as a straight wing player at Kentucky. Coupled with his 3-point shooting ability, it’s likely that NBA GMs are seeing him as a real threat to play the 1 or the 2 spot without a dropoff in production.

NBA coaches won’t have to sweat moving Murray into either position, and having a 3-point shot to go with that versatility is attractive.

Attacking

Here is where Murray gets barked at a little bit. While efficient on the drive, in games this year for the Wildcats it has sometimes been difficult to get Murray to head to the paint to wreak havoc.

When Murray shot a season-high 13 free throw against Illinois State on Nov. 30, only two attempts came after powering his way through the lane. Indeed, Calipari could be seen screaming at Murray to drive the ball during the second half against their loss to UCLA in December.

And, Coach Cal isn’t wrong.

Murray does good things when he takes it to the rack. Off the pick-and-roll, he uses pacing, body control, and an in-and-out dribble to beat defenders without blazing speed.


In the example above, Murray takes a pick from straight up the lane line. He uses an in-and-out dribble right at the arc to beat the big defender and scoop it up and under.

In a nearly identical situation later in the same game, Murray refuses the pick and again takes it to the right:


The big defender is in better ICE pick-and-roll coverage this time out. He moves his feet, and forces Murray to the baseline. Smartly, Murray keeps his dribble, and instead of giving up on the play, turns to find how the defense has recovered on the play.

Then, Murray dumps it off to a waiting teammate for a dunk.

Deficiencies

Murray is an interesting case in that he doesn’t do anything at a certifiably elite level at this stage in his career. As a prospect, he’s very good at many things and that’s his primary appeal. Shooting from deep is probably his strongest trait.

Meanwhile, picking out flaws in his game feels mostly inevitable. He has a tendency to ball watch, and often in strange situations like when he’s overplaying his man on the wing, leading to backdoor cuts.

His decisionmaking is suspect at times, and funny midrange jumpers can be at the end of some of his drives to the basket.

But these are things that don’t look like glaringly obvious or ingrained traits. Rather, that as an 18-year-old freshman, can and will be coached out by both Calipari and during Murray’s rookie contract years in the NBA.

Plus, we’re talking about cons that are solved by honing some of the most positive parts of his game. Pushing Murray to be more aggressive in the paint will naturally reduce the number of awkward long 2-pointers he takes.

And, as he gets a better feel for what position he will play in the NBA, he will slowly understand how better to defend those positions instead of having to switch back and forth.

Murray’s limitations at this point seem to be physical more than anything. At 6-foot-4, he could either be a two-position weapon or a tweener with no real fit. He’s not particularly fast, but he’s got enough guile that we should see him develop nicely.