Kris Murray declares for 2023 NBA Draft

Kris Murray, the twin brother of former Iowa superstar Keegan Murray, has declared for the 2023 NBA Draft, he announced on Twitter Friday morning. Kris Murray enjoyed a breakout season in his junior campaign for the Hawkeyes, stuffing the stat sheet with 20.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists per game. He also shot 33.5% from three-point range.

Murray erupted for a season-high 32 points against the Penn State Nittany Lions on New Year’s Day this year, also bringing in nine rebounds in an 83-79 loss. After posting a breakout season this year, he earned First Team All-Big Ten honors. This year was the fourth straight season that an Iowa player has earned unanimous selection by the media (Keegan Murray in 2022 and Luka Garza in 2020 and 2021). Murray also earned third team All-American honors from the Associated Press in 2023.

Kris Murray has continued to improve throughout his career with the Hawkeyes, increasing his scoring average by more than nine points per game each year. This year he made substantial improvements in points per game, rebounds per game, and assists per game.

As a high school basketball recruit in the 2020 recruiting cycle, Murray flew under the radar nationally and was rated as a three-star prospect and the No. 234 recruit prospect in America, according to the On3 Industry Rankings. He played his high school basketball with Prairie High School (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) then spent a postgraduate year with DME Sports Academy (Daytona Beach, Florida). His twin brother, Keegan Murray, was drafted No. 4 overall in the first round of the 2022 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings.

You can see his announcement and message to the fans right here:

💛 pic.twitter.com/zuPnj01e4W

— Kris Murray (@KrisMurray24) April 7, 2023

More on the 2023 NBA Draft

The 2023 NBA Draft is set to take place on Thursday, June 22, 2023, in Brooklyn at Barclays Center. Round 1 of the draft will be announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, while Deputy Commissioner Mark Tatum is expected to handle the second round of picks.

To be eligible for the NBA Draft, players must be at least 19 years in age during the calendar year that the draft is held and at least one NBA season from their high school graduation date, or the date that would have been if they are not graduated. It is not required that player spend that one year playing college basketball, though. Players can play in either college, abroad, or the G League Ignite if they choose so.

While this is a significant change from what the rules once were, players are eligible to enter their names into the NBA Draft pool and explore their options by hiring an agent to go through the process, while still keeping their college eligibility. The deadline to make that move is on April 23 beginning at 11:59 p.m. ET. Players have until June 12 at 5 p.m. ET to withdraw their name from the pool and return to college.

The NBA Draft Lottery will be held on May 16, which is also the start of the NBA Conference Finals.