Could Keegan Murray fall to Wizards at 10? originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Washington Wizards have the 10th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. Here is the latest in our series on draft prospects who could fall around where the Wizards will select...
2022 NBA Draft Wizards Prospect Profile: Keegan Murray
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School: Iowa
Position: Forward
Age: 21 (turns 22 in Aug.)
Height: 6-8
Weight: 215
Wingspan: 6-11
2021/22 stats: 35 G, 23.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.5 apg, 1.3 spg, 1.9 bpg, 55.4 FG% (8.8/15.8), 39.8 3PT% (1.9/4.7), 74.7 FT% (4.1/5.4)
Player comparison: Kyle Kuzma, Obi Toppin
Projections: NBC Sports Washington 6th, Sports Illustrated 6th, Ringer 7th, Athletic 6th, ESPN 4th, NBADraft.net 5th, Bleacher Report 6th
5 things to know:
-Murray is one of the most complete prospects in this draft and was one of the best players in all of college basketball last season. A 6-foot-8 forward, he is a gifted and well-rounded scorer with a high basketball IQ. He scored with volume and efficiency, and more than tripled his scoring average from his freshman year to his sophomore season. Murray can also defend at a high level and rebound. He appears to have a very high floor.
-One of the main questions for Murray is his ceiling, as he's one of the oldest players expected to be drafted and an outlier among the projected lottery picks. He's 21 years old and turns 22 in August, which means he's three years older than many of the top players expected to be taken. Murray may just be a late bloomer as he did a year in prep school after high school and had an unspectacular freshman season before breaking out in 2021-22 as a sophomore.
-Murray shows up very well in analytics. Not only did he lead the country in some traditional categories like total points and field goals made, he was No. 1 in win shares, box score plus/minus, player efficiency rating and all while having the fifth-lowest turnover percentage. It's not just offense, either. He was third in the Big 10 in block percentage.
-Defense is an underrated part of Murray's game, perhaps because he is such an accomplished scorer but also possibly because his size at 6-foot-8 and the fact his shot-blocking (1.9 bpg) may not carry over to the next level. Murray, though, has a chance to be an excellent two-way player and on defense could shine in switch situations. That versatility along with his ability to force turnovers (3.2 combined blocks and steals per game) suggest a lot of upside.
-Murray's father, Kenyon, played at Iowa in the 1990s and his identical twin brother, Kris, played for the Hawkeyes last season. Kris Murray also declared for the draft and is a projected second-round pick, though he could opt to go back to school.
Fit with Wizards:
If you saw Murray's mock draft projections above, you noticed that most do not believe he will be there when the Wizards are picking at 10th overall. But that does not mean he can't fall, as no one thought Deni Avdija (and Tyrese Haliburton) would be there at No. 9 in the 2020 draft. Ultimately, drafts are difficult to predict outside of the top picks.
Also, Murray's age could definitely lead to him falling, fair or not. Look at Toppin or Brandon Clarke or Desmond Bane or, going further back, Malcolm Brogdon. It's a common theme in the draft for older players to be overlooked and, in some cases, make a lot of teams regret doing so.
If Murray did fall to 10, the Wizards may jump at the opportunity to get him. He could contribute right away and in areas of need with his shooting and defense. Initially, he might have some trouble finding minutes with Rui Hachimura and Kuzma already in the mix at the four and with a generally deep crop of forwards on the Wizards' roster. But if the Wizards picked Murray 10th, he would become a big part of their future and likely ultimately take the place of either Hachimura or Kuzma, who each have only one year left on their contracts.
The hope, of course, would be that long-term Murray could develop into a star. But if they drafted him, the Wizards would perhaps be favoring short-term needs and simply adding a good player over long-term potential. That would be a fine path to take considering Bradley Beal's timeline (he turns 29 in June) and given how well guys like Bane and Brogdon have worked out.
2022 NBA Draft profiles:
