When ESPN's Jonathan Givony asked Jamal Murray in April of 2015 where he'd be in five years, the Canadian guard responded: "In the NBA hopefully. That's my dream. Having a degree in school, something to look forward to after basketball if it doesn't work out."
The NBA is definitely working out for Murray, who will now face the biggest test of his young career in the stellar LA Clippers defense.
Murray's three-game, 142-point playoff outburst heading into Wednesday night's Game 7 forced the Utah Jazz to get the ball out of his hands, opening the door for his Denver Nuggets to advance in the NBA playoffs with a grind-it-out win. Despite a less-than-stellar performance, Murray received star-level respect from the Utah defense, which blitzed, bumped and crowded the 23-year-old guard like he was a perennial All-Star. Down the stretch, Murray scored four of Denver's final six points in an 80-78 victory, showing the type of resilience that allowed him to shine against older competition his entire prep career.
Although he ranked 19th in our 25-under-25 rankings in March, only four players ahead of Murray are still playing (Jayson Tatum, Bam Adebayo, Jaylen Brown and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), and he's trending toward All-Star status soon.
How did Murray slip to pick No. 7 in the 2016 draft, behind guards Kris Dunn and Buddy Hield? And, more important, how has he been able to carry Denver this far and what does it mean for his future potential?
Here are the three areas in which Murray has grown the most since entering the NBA, and how he showed off that improvement against the Jazz.
MORE: Why no stage is too big for Jamal Murray
1. Creating space
Murray's shooting stroke was never in question before the draft, even dating back to his 30-point outburst in the 2015 Nike Hoop Summit game in a win over Brandon Ingram, Jaylen Brown and Team USA. He was always tremendous sprinting into 3s out of off ball screens or spotting up from well beyond NBA range. He also showed the ability to hard plant into more basic pull-ups and even mix in occasional step-backs going to his left.
But Murray has quickly developed the ability to create space out of a variety of different dribble moves, which has helped muffle the concerns NBA teams had about his ability to generate high-percentage offense against more athletic defenders.
Murray has done an excellent job of maximizing his athletic potential, particularly with his shot creation. Among 37 high-volume pull-up shooters this season, Murray ranks eighth in effective field goal percentage (eFG) over the course of the regular season and playoffs, per Second Spectrum tracking data. He does a tremendous job covering ground and maintaining balance on step-backs in either direction. His pickups are cleaner and his footwork is sharper.
Going through old scouting reports, Murray was knocked for often looking hunched or heavy-footed with the ball, not quite having the ability to turn a corner quickly. As his legs tired out from a grueling series, those shortcomings showed up for stretches during Game 7, especially with Donovan Mitchell defending him.
But as Murray has found more ways to get to his weapon -- the pull-up jumper -- he has become much more dynamic with the ball, especially when you consider his understanding of angles. Because Murray is such a threat to punish defenders with jumpers when they're leaning one way, he's learned how to play off of that to put pressure on the rim and collapse a set defense.
2. Tighter handle
With the more dynamic pull-up and step-back has come a tighter handle. In almost every one of our interviews dating back to the 2015 Nike Hoop Summit, Murray has emphasized ballhandling as an improvement area.
"Doing a lot of ballhandling," Murray said during the pre-draft process. "Just trying to improve on that and make sure my dribble is crisp, making sure I can play the point guard position."
As a prep player and at Kentucky, Murray understood how to change speeds and directions with the ball, but he simply wasn't all that quick or forceful with his moves. Too often he'd be forced to kill his dribble in the paint or cough it up against a hard hedge. He now has the ball on a string against aggressive pick-and-roll coverages, allowing him to sneak through tight crevices and attack 4-on-3 situations.
Always a crafty, ambidextrous finisher with a great floater game, Murray certainly never had the 360 finish in his arsenal, and he has expanded his deception around the rim even more this season, with a 66.3% eFG in the restricted area. The next step at the basket is generating more free throws.
Murray's improved handle also shows in his willingness to keep his dribble alive when he's inside the arc. During his college days, if his pull-up was taken away, he'd stop his dribble, pump-fake and settle for a tough leaner. While he's not immune to living off tough pull-ups, he's now doing a better job of keeping his dribble and redirecting his attack:
In college Murray was best out of quick-action handoffs and pindowns, but his confidence with the ball in his hands and added ability to shift gears has made him even tougher to defend in ball-screen situations, which now make up more than 32% of his possessions, close to triple his collegiate rate.
3. Improved playmaker
While he's still more wired to score, Murray's progress as a playmaker is noteworthy. During his freshman season at Kentucky, he finished with more turnovers than assists, even though we often touted him as a capable passer with the ability to deliver the ball with either hand (primarily based on his national team performances). His shot selection and ability to run an NBA offense full time were real questions four years ago.
But Murray has taken advantage of an ideal situation in Denver while also improving his floor game with a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio and a career-best 6.1 dimes per 40 minutes. Playing alongside a point-center in Jokic, as well as a pass-first guard in Monte Morris, has allowed Murray to focus on scoring the ball while making the necessary reads out of handoffs, off-ball screens and pick-and-roll. He hasn't needed to play full-time point guard like some scouts anticipated.
Don't forget about the playmaking pic.twitter.com/spN2zppywW
— Denver Nuggets (@nuggets) August 31, 2020
Jokic's evolution as a perimeter shooter has also really opened up driving lanes for Murray, who has in turn done an excellent job of making live-dribble hits to a popping or short-rolling big. Already headed in the right direction, Murray likely still has another gear to reach as a facilitator as more teams load up to stop his scoring attack.
We'll learn more about Murray against Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Patrick Beverley, but he has most certainly put the NBA on notice, making his case to be considered one of the better under-25 guards in the league.
Mike Schmitz is an NBA draft expert and a contributor to DraftExpress.com, a private scouting and analytics service utilized by NBA, NCAA and international teams.