How Jamal Murray Helped Change the Landscape of Denver Nuggets Basketball

David Thompson, Alex English, Carmelo Anthony, and Kentucky’s own Dan Issel have all been the benchmark of Denver Nuggets basketball at one point. Three are in the Naismith Hall of Fame (with Anthony surely to follow) and all of them championed the Nuggets throughout the franchise’s 47 years in the NBA.

However, none of these legends were able to get past the Western Conference Finals. The Nuggets have appeared in four WCF during its history, with the first coming in 1978, but the result was always the same. That is until a second-round Serbian and an underrated Canadian came together to form one of the best duos in the league.

Nikola Jokić and Jamal Murray combined for 55 points as the Denver Nuggets defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 113-111 in Game 4 on Monday night. Denver’s performance sent the Lakers packing as the top-seeded Nuggets completed the sweep en route to the franchise’s first NBA Finals appearance.

With his performance, Jamal Murray cemented himself as one of the best guards in the league come playoff time. In fact, Murray became the first player ever to average 30 points per game on 50-40-90 shooting splits in a conference finals, according to ESPN.

Most will lie and say this was expected from Murray early in his career, but looking back, this was not the case.

Jamal Murray to the NBA Finals 🔵🏹 pic.twitter.com/TE2hAKAVVD

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) May 23, 2023

Jamal Murray leads Kentucky to SEC Championship

Kentucky fans will remember Murray as a First-Team All-SEC selection and a 20-point-per-game scorer in his one year under head coach John Calipari. He and Tyler Ulis (now a member of Calipari’s coaching staff) proved to be an electrifying backcourt in Lexington.

Murray scored 30 points in a single game three times in blue-and-white, including 35 in a win over Florida. However, the 6-foot-3 combo guard proved his talent in the SEC tournament, leading Kentucky to another SEC Tournament championship behind a 22-point-per-game average.

His time at Kentucky proved one thing for certain — Jamal Murray shows up when it matters.

Even in UK’s second-round NCAA Tournament defeat to Indiana, he went for 16 points and seven rebounds. After the loss, it was apparent he was ready for the next level. Averaging 20 points per game for Kentucky is a rare and impressive feat. This would seemingly propel Murray into top-pick status as Denver selected him with the seventh pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. While this may sound great, the disrespect was apparent from league GMs as Murray was the fifth guard taken off the board.

Draft Night Disrespect

With the fifth pick, the Timberwolves passed on Murray for a junior out of Providence, Kris Dunn, citing Dunn’s defense as the reason he was the better prospect. NBA writer Rahul Lal wrote on CBS Sports before the draft, “I would take the safe bet of (Kris) Dunn on draft day because he can play from day one and is still capable of turning into a true defensive stopper — He is also a safer bet to develop and is a low risk, high reward player.”

If that isn’t enough to illustrate how Murray was seen on draft night, the next pick added insult to injury. New Orleans decided with the sixth pick that they needed a shooting guard. With Murray spending the majority of his time at Kentucky off of the ball, the Pelicans stumbled their way into an offensive star prospect. Unfortunately, their front office thought of a different name, as they selected Buddy Hield out of Oklahoma.

The Athletic’s Mike Vorkunov reminded fans last night of the implications of that famous seventh pick from Denver. He said, “As the Denver Nuggets near a NBA Finals berth and Carmelo Anthony retires, this a reminder that they wouldn’t be here today without him. Nuggets drafted Jamal Murray with the pick they received from the Knicks in the Carmelo trade – a pick swap into the No. 7 slot in 2016.”

As Denver was forced to trade their guy, the fabled prospect Carmelo Anthony, the return ended up being the guard that broke the curse. Jamal Murray could have gone to any of the six teams with a selection before Denver. But, things worked out for Jamal, as Nikola Jokic was on the verge of becoming one of the NBA’s best bigs and an eventual two-time MVP.

Injuries, trades, you name it

Jamal Murray’s NBA career has been far from perfect. In fact, it has been rare to find a season where Murray is not burdened by an injury or trade rumors. In a game against the Warriors on April 12, 2021, Murray tore his ACL, causing him to miss the entirety of last season. Since 2019, Murray has failed to play in more than 60 games in a season. Add the injury troubles to a five-year, $158 million contract and the rumors began to fly.

In a recent interview with the Athletic’s Sam Amick, Denver head coach Michael Malone detailed a conversation with the front office. Malone said, “I remember Tim (Connelly) calling me up, (and saying), ‘Hey, we can trade Jamal for this guy.’ (This was) probably three or four years ago — (and it was) a marquee player. I said ‘No.’ Like, ‘What? Let’s not rush this. We have a patient ownership group. Let’s (expletive) take our time and build this the right way. A bigger name is not always better.’ “

Even after the Nuggets series-clinching victory Monday night, Jokic pointed out the feelings surrounding Murray’s journey in the postgame presser. “He thought they’re going to trade him. And then the way how he’s leading us and how he’s controlling the game and making shots… I’m so happy for Jamal [Murray], just proving that he’s worth [it] & he’s a special player in this league.”

However, with all of the injuries and rumors occupying the minds of those who wrote off Murray, most are forgetting where his breakout took place.

After the world shut down due to the pandemic in early 2020, and the NBA fled to the bubble at Disney World, Murray finally showed the entire league that he is worth every penny. In a run to the Western Conference finals (where they lost to the Lakers, the same team Denver bested in 2023), Murray showed his offensive firepower.

According to StatMuse, Murray averaged 24.4 points, 6.3 assists, and 4.8 rebounds across 23 games in the 2020 NBA Bubble. In 15 games during these playoffs? 27.7 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per outing.

When Jamal Murray scored this acrobatic layup on Bron in the bubble 😮‍💨🔥 pic.twitter.com/V8suAe5K2R

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) May 16, 2023

It seems as though Murray has finally found his place and is looking to make history for the Nuggets. The question is, will the Blue Arrow strike again, this time in the NBA Finals?