Denver Nuggets: Comparing Jamal Murray to Three “Better” Rookies

The Denver Nuggets have seen dividends from Jamal Murray this preseason, and he stacks up nicely against some of his rookie counterparts.

By now, many of you know that Jamal Murray, a sharpshooter from the University of Kentucky, was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the seventh overall pick in this past years draft.

With the offseason coming to a close, we will be taking a look at how Murray is compared to some of his fellow rookies that were drafted higher than him.

In the following slides we will take a look at Jaylen Brown, Kris Dunn, and Buddy Hield respectively.

Back in June when the draft night was upon us, it seemed obvious that any of these three (outside of Kris Dunn) would fall to Denver. With that said, no one in Denver anticipated Jamal Murray to fall to the Nuggets. As he continued to drop and Denver got on the clock, manager Tim Connelly was ecstatic about being able to draft this young Murray.

According to Mile High Sports, Connelly said this concerning Murray following draft night:

“We are extremely excited about what happened this evening. We got our top-ranked guy that we could conceivably get in Jamal. His ability to play both guard positions — his shot making certainly was a huge need — and I think you won’t find a harder working guy. He fits the mold of the type of players we’re trying to bring to Denver.”

In a couple years, Dany Ainge and these other managers may be shocked at how they messed up. While it is only preseason, Jamal Murray has put up some impress stats, but ultimately Denver fans must remember that it is only preseason.

With that said, let’s take a look at how Jamal Murray’s numbers line up against these other lottery picks.