Amidst the Portland Trail Blazers’ Play-In performance from Deni Avdija and their subsequent appearance in the NBA Playoffs after a five-year absence, another development has gone largely unnoticed: Kris Murray is a useful NBA role player.
The Trail Blazers are set to face Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the first round.
Murray’s Contributions to the Blazers
Across three seasons, Kris Murray has posted career averages of 5.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, and one assist while shooting 25% from three and 42% from the floor. It becomes easy to see a path where Murray falls out of favour with the Blazers coaching staff. Yet, over three seasons, without substantial improvement to his shooting, Murray has found a consistent spot in the Blazers’ rotation, even playing 12 minutes in their Play-In matchup against the Phoenix Suns (minutes in which he was a +10, by the way).
He also shined in Portland’s crucial home game against the Los Angeles Clippers on April 10, producing 10 points on 4-5 shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal. Then he produced again in the regular season finale against the Sacramento Kings, registering 9 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
What Makes Murray Effective
Murray might not be an effective offensive player, but he shines in nearly every other aspect of the game. Even if he continues to struggle from long range, he should – and likely will – maintain a role in the league.
One of the luxuries of the Blazers’ current roster construction is its surplus of gigantic, hustle-oriented wings.
- Murray sits in the 90th percentile of DARKO-DPM (Daily Adjusted and Regressed Kalman Optimized Defensive Plus/Minus).
- He is in the 93rd percentile for DRA.
Murray’s Role Compared to Toumani Camara
Murray’s role is essentially Toumani Camara lite. He assumes far less creation responsibility on the attacking end, but slightly atones for his lack of offensive juice with heady cuts, straight-line drives and hard-nosed offensive rebounding. On the defensive end, though, he’s as much of a stalwart as anyone.
Oh, Toumani Camara just broke your spirit by chasing you 180 feet up and down the floor? And because he flew backwards like Neo fighting Morpheus in the karate studio since your screener’s legs were one inch wider than the legal limit? Well, at least he’s subbed out now. Wait! Here comes another really fast 6’8” guy who will also stick to you like glue, minus the foul-drawing theatrics.