Nuggets' Jamal Murray garners All-Rookie second team honors

Denver Nuggets’ guard Jamal Murray was voted to the All-Rookie second team, the league announced Monday.

Murray, 20, averaged 9.9 points on 40.4 percent shooting from the field and 33.4 percent from three, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists across 82 games (9 starts) for the Nuggets this season. The Kitchener, Ontario native registered seven games of 20+ points.

After averaging just 19.9 minutes per game prior to February’s All-Star break, Murray saw his playing time increase as the season wore on as the 6-foot-4 guard averaged 12.1 points in 25.0 minutes per game over the last couple months of the season. In the nine games Murray started this year, he averaged 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. Murray’s season-high came on April 7 in New Orleans when he registered 30 points on 10-14 shooting.

Heading into the 2017-18 season, Murray is expected to hold down the starting point guard spot after only starting seven games at the one during his rookie year. Denver went 6-1 in those matchups.

Swingman Juancho Hernangomez, the 15th overall pick in the 2016 draft, garnered five All-Rookie votes as well. The 21-year-old averaged 4.9 points and 3.0 rebounds in 62 games (9 starts) for the Nuggets this past season. Hernangomez scored a career-high 27 points on 9-17 shooting from the field and 6-10 from three in a  132-110 win over the Warriors back on February 13.