After hosting Marquette forward Henry Ellenson for an individual workout last week, the Denver Nuggets welcomed in Washington guard Dejounte Murray for the team’s second individual pre-draft workout of the offseason.
Murray, a 6-foot-5 point guard has been rising up draft boards as of late and is currently projected to be selected in the middle of the first round next week.
The intrigue with 19-year-old starts with his size. At 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-9.5 wingspan, Murray possesses ideal length at point guard. He doesn’t harness a ton of strength at his young age but loves to push the ball aggressively in transition, always looking for contact.
On offense, Murray has an inconsistent jumper and hit on just 28.8 percent of his threes last year at Washington. To compensate, he’s developed a potent floater which he hit at a 45 percent rate, per Synergy, but his lack of strength also limited him in the paint, as he converted on just 46 percent of his shots within the 3-point arc.
Murray is an extremely raw prospect that possesses a relatively high ceiling because of his frame and athleticism and whichever franchise he finds himself with will have to bring him along slowly.
He averaged a healthy 1.9 steals per 40 minutes but didn’t show too much discipline on the defensive end. He frequently comes out of his stance and could have posted better defensive metrics if had focused more on that end of the floor.
That being said, Denver does have a need at backup point guard and Murray, developing behind D.J. Augustin or Jameer Nelson during his rookie year would be beneficial. If the Nuggets could add Murray at the end of the first or beginning of the second round, he could provide great value down the road.
Murray has upcoming workouts planned with Chicago, Milwaukee, New Orleans and Sacramento.
Nuggets also host group workout
While Murray had the gym to himself this afternoon, six more prospects took the floor at approximately 9 o’clock this morning.
Among them was UNLV guard Patrick McCaw. A 6-foot-7 shooting guard, who averaged 14.5 points on 45.4 percent shooting and made 35.2 percent of his 3-point attempts during his freshman year. McCaw said he’s getting good feedback leading up to the draft.
“Each workout teams have been saying they’re really interested in me,” McCaw said. “I just continue to go out there and play my game. I don’t really worry about my projection or where I land. I just go out there and give 110 percent each time I go into a workout.”
McCaw, 20, wasn’t getting much buzz until he declared last month, but is charting well with the draft under two weeks away. He’s now slotting as a late first or early second-round prospect who projects well as a 2-way wing at the NBA level.
“I’m so underrated,” McCaw said. “I just come in and work every day as hard as I possibly can and it’s paying off for me.”
He’s shown a ton of potential as a shooter and slasher on the offensive end and has the size and length to shoot over smaller wings, but also averaged 2.6 steals per 40 minutes last season and has a knack for getting in passing lanes and poking the ball loose.
With a 6-foot-10 wingspan to go with his slender frame, McCaw has a fairly high ceiling but will need to hone in on both ends of the floor at the next level. He fell asleep at times on defense at UNLV as many freshman college players do.
Denver has a need on the wing for a 2-way player that can stretch the defense and provide a spark off the bench, and McCaw would fill that role well.
McCaw has already worked out for nine different teams before Denver today is enjoying the pre-draft process and said his body feels good. However, being a 6-foot-7 basketball player, sitting in coach, traveling to nine cities in nearly that many days isn’t glamorous.
“If you get a bad seat on a plane, then it’s like ah!,” McCaw said. “I can’t go to sleep, I can’t get comfortable.”
McCaw is a versatile wing who has a high ceiling at the end of the first round. Credit: Chase Stevens, Las Vegas Review-Journal
