Why is Murray Being Overlooked?
The NBA “Most Improved Player” award debate is essentially locked up already for 2021-2022 with Ja Morant running away with the honors. Miles Bridges and Darius Garland have also been mentioned in the talk as more of a formality than anything else, but one player that seems to be getting ignored by NBA media and casual fans alike is Dejounte Murray. A big reason for this is likely due to him playing for a struggling San Antonio Spurs team that is hovering around the bottom of the standings in the West. The Spurs currently have the 7th worst record in the NBA, but make no mistake, Murray is having a break-out season.
Dejounte Murray averaging career highs in points (19.6), assists (9.2), rebounds (8.4), and steals (2.1) in 2021-2022. Despite this, the selections for NBA All-Stars have come and gone, and unfortunately the Spurs’ 6’4” fifth-year guard was nowhere to be found. While it makes sense for the likes of Luka Doncic, Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Chris Paul (all of which are bigger NBA names) to make it into the All-Star game, it is a travesty that Murray was not able to make it in a guard-heavy Western Conference.
UPDATE: It was announced that Dejounte Murray will make the All-Star game in place of injured Draymond Green.
The Stats Tell the Story: Murray is an All-Star Caliber Guard
While the standard stats of 19.6 points, 9.2 assists, 8.4 rebounds, and 2.1 steals should already be enough to make this case, once you dig into the stats a little deeper, it is obvious that Murray is having an All-Star year. In fact, Luka Doncic and Dejounte Murray are the only players in the entire league who average 18+ points, 8+ assists, and 8+ rebounds per game.
Dejounte Murray is 4th in the NBA in assists per game, trailing only Chris Paul, James Harden, and Trae Young. Murray also has a lower turnover percentage (at just 11.6%) than all three of them. He has slowly but surely turned into a triple-double machine at this point in his career and has 10 of them already in 2021-2022. This gives him the 2nd most in the NBA behind only the reigning MVP, Nikola Jokic. Murray’s 10 triple-doubles this season have already broken the single-season record for the Spurs and his 16 career triple-doubles (14 regular season, 1 play-in, 1 playoff) puts him at #1 for most triple doubles in San Antonio history.
Transitioning to the defensive-end of the floor, Murray leads the association in total deflections (188) and deflections per game (4.1). He is also 4th in the NBA in steal percentage at 2.9%, less than only De’Anthony Melton, Matisse Thybulle, and Jarred Vanderbilt. On top of this, Dejounte is 12th in the NBA in defensive win shares (2.3) just above Marcus Smart and just below Mikal Bridges.
Dejounte is the Cornerstone to the Spurs’ Future
Murray signed his 4-year $64 million rookie contract extension the end of 2019, and is now in his 2nd year of the contract. He does not become a free agent until 2024-2025 and is certainly the biggest part of this young San Antonio core moving forward. The Spurs have not had an All-Star since LaMarcus Aldridge in 2018-2019 and have not had an All-Star guard since the legendary Tony Parker in 2013-2014. Perhaps Dejounte Murray can be the next All-Star for the black and silver and more importantly, be the player that jumpstarts the next San Antonio Spurs regime.
