Jamal Murray

Murray missed all of last season due to an ACL tear suffered at the end of the 2020-21 campaign. That season was his best, as Murray finished 31st in eight-category roto leagues on a per-game basis. He saw 35.5 minutes per game and averaged 21.2 points on 48/41/87 shooting, 4.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals. Though he's a point guard, Murray's assist ceiling will always be relatively low while playing alongside two-time MVP Nikola Jokic, who runs the offense. Still, that's opened Murray up to launch plenty of high-percentage catch-and-shoot threes (2.7 makes two years ago). Plus, he's able to make cuts to the basket and finish at an elite level (72 percent at the rim, in the 97th percentile for combo guards). Fantasy managers should exercise a bit of caution drafting Murray since he'll need to shake off some rust, but his upside is clear, and he could end up returning third-round value if he can bounce back quickly.

Murray suffered a torn ACL in April of last season, putting his status for the 2021-22 campaign in jeopardy. ACL recoveries can take anywhere from nine months to over a year, so it's not quite clear if Murray will end up with any fantasy relevancy at all. Optimistic fantasy managers can select Murray with the hope that he'll return as soon as January, though that would probably depend on how many Injured Reserve spots are allowed. The 24-year-old is coming off the best season of his career. He ranked 31st in per-game fantasy production behind 21.2 points, 4.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals. It seems unlikely he'll be able to make strides coming off the knee injury, so a best-case scenario is probably Murray putting up comparable numbers, though a dip should be the general expectation. Make sure to keep up with news of his recovery up until your draft day to see when he's projected to return.

Murray's regular-season production in 2019-20 was nearly identical to his production the year prior, though he made marginal improvements, notably to his field-goal percentage (45.6) and free-throw percentage (88.1). That was in addition to his 18.5 points, 4.8 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.1 steals as the Nuggets' clear No. 2 option behind Nikola Jokic. That said, while fantasy managers didn't reap the benefits of it, Murray reached a new level in the postseason. He looked unstoppable at points during the first-round series against the Jazz, averaging 31.6 points, 6.3 assists and 5.6 rebounds in 38.1 minutes. In the playoffs as a whole, the point guard averaged 26.5 points, 6.6 assists and 4.8 rebounds in 39.6 minutes. It's possible those series will be a jumping-off point for Murray, who is still just 23 years old. While his assist numbers will likely never match that of a traditional point guard due to the presence of Jokic, it shouldn't surprise fantasy managers if Murray crossed the 20-point-per-game threshold in 2020-21 and did so on similar or improved efficiency. If that's the case, he'll likely be worthy of a third-or-fourth round selection.

Murray managed career-high per-game averages in points (18.2), assists (4.8), rebounds (4.2), blocks (0.4) and minutes (32.6) last season. Moreover, the 22-year-old combo guard took his scoring to another level in the playoffs, posting 21.3 points per game across 14 contests. Denver's offense will almost certainly continue to run through Nikola Jokic. Nevertheless, the sturdy Murray (82, 81 and 75 games played in his first three seasons, respectively) remains the clear second option behind one of the most pass-happy stars in the league, and another leap in year four would elevate his fantasy value toward elite status. In order for that to happen though, Murray may need to improve his field goal percentage (43.7), which fell from 45.1 percent during 2017-18. It's not abnormal for young players to suffer a small regression in efficiency when taking on more responsibility, which is what happened to Murray, whose shot attempts rose from 13.1 to 15.6 per tilt. Furthermore, like most young players, Murray developed a reputation for being somewhat inconsistent, as he was limited to single digits in scoring eight times in 2018-19. Overall, Murray is still arguably one of the better bets to enjoy a breakout campaign and could prove worthy of a fairly high selection on draft day.

After spending most of his rookie year behind Jameer Nelson and Emmanuel Mudiay, Murray started 80 of his 81 games for the Nuggets last season. Seeing just over 10 more minutes per game, the Kentucky product set career highs across the board. While he shouldn't be relied upon for assists (3.4) considering Nikola Jokic’s role in the offense, Murray is progressing into a legitimate scoring threat, recording 27 outings of at least 20 points last season, which includes seven 30-plus efforts. Those performances happen in part due to his knock-down three-point (2.0 per game at 37.8 percent) and free-throw (2.8 per game at 90.5 percent) shooting. Moving forward, consistency will be a step Murray needs to take to improve his Fantasy value, as he scored fewer than 10 points in 18 contests, and averaged 24.4 minutes in those tilts. One thing he has been consistent at, however, is staying on the court. Across his first two campaigns, Murray has missed just one contest. Assuming he stays healthy and improves as expected, the point guard seems primed to turn in a top-50 Fantasy campaign.

Murray was one of the best rookies in the league last season and some believe that he has the highest ceiling of any of the 2016 draftees. While he had a tough first couple months, Murray was actually the only player on the roster to play a full 82-game schedule. He really turned it on the last few months of the season, averaging 12.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 0.9 blocks across his final 37 games. An underrated asset in Murray's game is his free-throw shooting, as he should be leaned on to finish games with his 88.3 percent clip from the charity stripe from last season. That's a void that needs to be filled too, now that Danilo Gallinari is sporting a Clippers jersey. The fact that Murray is just 20-years-old may be the most exciting part for Denver, as he has the potential to become a better than average scoring point guard. After averaging just 21.0 minutes per game last season, Murray is the odds on favorite to open the season as the team's starting point guard ahead of Emmanuel Mudiay and Jameer Nelson, which should afford him a sizable increase in playing time overall. With a big jump in minutes expected, look for a potential breakout season for Murray, though his Fantasy potential remains hard to predict as he'll likely be the fifth option offensively behind the likes of Paul Millsap, Nikola Jokic, Wilson Chandler and Gary Harris.

Denver made Murray, a 19-year-old from Kentucky by way of Ontario, Canada the seventh overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, adding even more young talent to an up-and-coming roster. Murray would likely be penciled in as a starter for most lottery teams, but he'll have to compete with incumbent Gary Harris, as well as Will Barton and Wilson Chandler, for minutes as a rookie. While Harris took a significant step forward last season, Murray's long-term upside is arguably higher, so how coach Mike Malone divides minutes between the two is certainly something worth following. Unlike Harris, Murray can also play on the ball and will challenge veteran Jameer Nelson for playing time behind second-year point guard Emmanuel Mudiay. Mudiay showed some promise as a rookie, but he struggles as an outside shooter, an area in which Murray excelled at the college level, knocking down better than 40 percent of his 277 three-point attempts during his freshman season. Still, Murray will have to earn his way onto the floor, and it could be several months before he settles into a defined nightly role. As a result, Murray is much more attractive in dynasty formats than he is in single-season leagues. That said, Murray is probably worth a flier near the end of most single-season drafts, but keep in mind that his short-term upside is capped by the quality of the Nuggets' backcourt depth.