Jamal Murray was one of the best young guards in the league in 2021. But can he return to form and become an All-Star for the first time in 2023?
Even though the NBA All-Star game is mostly just for show, and by no means an indicator of how talented a player truly is or how much they mean to their respective franchise. It’s still an important accolade that we use to measure NBA players nevertheless.
Whenever you mention an NBA great, one of the first things you place next to their name is how many All-Star appearances they’ve had. While there are still far more meaningful awards in the NBA. Like the MVP, making an All-NBA team, or winning an NBA championship. Becoming an All-Star is still an important piece of a player’s resume that we can use to match up with current and former legends of the game.
For the Denver Nuggets, they already have the reigning Most Valuable Player of the league, Nikola Jokic. Who feels like a lock to clinch his fifth All-Star appearance in 2023. However, could the Mile High City bolster two All-Stars next season?
Jamal Murray has yet to make an All-Star team, an All-NBA team, or win any major individual award for that matter since getting drafted back in 2016. However, he’s arguably in the best position of any player in the league to become an All-Star for the first time in 2023.
Here are 3 reasons why.
One of the biggest factors that contribute to a player becoming an All-Star is scoring. And one of the positions most responsible for scoring is the shooting guard. Even though Jamal Murray is technically labelled a point guard first, I could see him taking on a much larger scoring role for the Denver Nuggets in 2023.
Last season, every guard who made the All-Star game (outside of Chris Paul) was averaging over 20 points per game. Then the year before, Paul and Mike Conley were the only All-Stars averaging fewer than 20 a game.
Essentially, unless you’re a pure point guard (which Murray is not), then you need to be averaging at least 20 points per game to become an NBA All-Star. Thankfully, Jamal Murray was averaging 21.2 points per game when we last saw him play in 2021. Which was more than 2022 All-Star recipients Dejounte Murray, LaMelo Ball, and Fred VanVleet.
While it’s impossible to predict exactly what his stat line will look like next season since we don’t even know how he’s going to return from his ACL tear. There’s good reason to believe that Murray won’t have any problem returning to his scoring ways and should easily average between 20 and 25 points per game. Especially since an ACL injury is pretty easy to come back from in the modern age of medicine and technology.
It’s also worth noting that he’s improved in each of his five seasons with the Denver Nuggets. A trend that should continue into 2023.
With Jokic as the Nuggets’ leading facilitator, and little to no cap space to sign anybody of major significance this offseason. Jamal Murray will be relied on to be this team’s primary scorer and most consistant perimeter shooter on offense. Meaning that his scoring numbers should only continue to go up in 2023. Putting him in prime contention for a spot in the big game.
Personally, I consider Jamal Murray to be more of an off-guard in the modern game than a pure point guard. Maybe this is due to the fact that the Denver Nuggets already have a dominant passer in Nikola Jokic. Or maybe it’s just because Murray is a better scorer than a facilitator. Regardless, he’s a two guard in my books.
Being that he’s more of a traditional shooting guard, he’s going to be measured more on his ability to score than facilitate. So, tying into our previous point, he’s probably going to have to average close to around 25 points per game to get an All-Star nod in 2023.
The good news is that he’s already one of the most efficient shooters in basketball. So, even if his scoring numbers do fall just under 25 a game, he could make it in just on his efficiency alone.
Ever since Murray was drafted, he’s been one of the most consistant shooters in every facet of the game. Averaging 45 percent from the field, 37 percent from deep, and 88 percent from the free-throw line in his five-year NBA career. What’s more impressive is that these numbers have only gone up each season with the Denver Nuggets.
He went from shooting just over 40 percent from the floor, and 33 percent from three in 2016. To 48 percent from the floor, and 41 percent from three before his injury in 2021. While his free-throw shooting has always been between 85 and 90 percent.
At this point in his career, there’s arguably no player with a better shot of becoming the next member of the 50-40-90 club. Which is one of the best statistics used to measure the excellence of an NBA shooter.
If he were to shoot over 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from deep, and 90 percent from the line in 2023. This would put him in rare air amongst other NBA legends like Kyrie Irving, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant and Steve Nash. All of whom were All-Stars in the years that they made the 50-40-90 club.
Assuming Jamal continues his rise in scoring (as previously predicted), and averages closer to 25 points per game. Another factor that will likely contribute to him becoming an All-Star in 2023 is his incredible efficiency as one of the best pure scorers in the NBA.
Lastly, we have arguably the biggest indicator of whether or not a player will make the All-Star game; team performance.
Every year, there’s at least one or two players who almost solely make the big game because their team is at or near the top of the conference. For example, the Golden State Warriors were one of the best teams in the NBA for the majority of last season, despite being without arguably their second-best player, Klay Thompson. As a result, Andrew Wiggins became an All-Star.
Let’s be honest, any other year, a player averaging just over 17 points and 4 rebounds per game would not have made the All-Star game. Even if he did have incredibly efficient scoring numbers throughout the year.
Then in 2021, Mike Conley got the nod on just over 16 points and 6 assists per game. And the year before that, Kemba Walker was a damn starter averaging just 20 points and 5 assists per game. So, then why were they All-Stars you might ask? Because the Utah Jazz held the best record in the NBA in 2021 and the Boston Celtics had one of the better records in the league in 2020.
Using these examples, another factor that could contribute to Jamal Murray being an All-Star in 2023 is if the franchise continues its upward trend, and emerges as one of the best teams in the NBA.
Last year, the Denver Nuggets finished tied with the 10th-best winning percentage in the entire league. All without two of their three best players in Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Yes, the heroics of Nikola Jokic are well-documented and are the biggest contributing factor to the team’s success this past season. But there’s no doubt that the Denver Nuggets are one of the best teams in basketball when all three are on the floor together.
So, with both Porter and Murray expected to be good to go by the start of the regular season, and the continued improvement of players like Aaron Gordon, Monte Morris, and Bones Hyland. As well as whoever else they add to the rotation this offseason. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where the Denver Nuggets aren’t one of the better teams in the Western Conference in 2023.
Which in and of itself would thrust Jamal Murray into immediate contention for a spot in the All-Star game. Assuming he maintains his efficient scoring and averages over 20 points per game (which seems likely).