5. Jamal Murray & Isiah Thomas – Defense
Jamal Murray came into the league as a scorer. He can shoot from inside or outside, and he’s flashed his scoring ability multiple times in his young career. One thing he hasn’t shown off though is his defense. Enter, 12-time All-Star Isiah Thomas. Thomas spent all 13 seasons of his career with the Detroit Pistons, and he was a key player in the “Bad Boys” era that changed the way the NBA played defense, especially against NBA legend Michael Jordan.
For his career, Thomas maintained an average of 1.9 steals per game including five seasons when he averaged over 2.0 per game. Through three seasons, Murray has never averaged over 1.0 per game. He’s also graded out negatively on defense through each season with minimal improvements ever shown. Meanwhile, Thomas graded out negatively just twice, which were his final two seasons in the NBA.
Murray has the tools to be an elite defender at his position. He’s got good size at 6’4″ and 207 pounds with a decent wingspan of 6’6.” He’s also got good athleticism. For whatever reason, be it lack of instinct or interest, he hasn’t been able to put the tools to use. If he were to go to work with Thomas for a short while, he’d become one of the better two-way players at his position in the NBA.