Jamal Murray has made a career out of raising his game in the playoffs. Prior to the 2025-26 season, he'd never averaged more than 21.4 points per game in the regular season, yet he boasts a career average of 23.7 points per contest in the playoffs, including two runs over 26.0. Unfortunately, his elevated workload in 2025-26 directly coincided with perhaps his worst postseason to date.
Thankfully, the Nuggets’ polarizing DeMar DeRozan signing should help Murray get back to pacing himself through the regular season and taking over in the playoffs.
Murray finished the 2025-26 regular season with averages of 25.4 points, 7.1 assists, 4.4 rebounds, 0.9 steals, and 3.3 three-point field goals made per game. He did so on .483/.435/.887 shooting, producing an eFG% of .573 and a true shooting percentage of .622.
Unfortunately, Murray struggled during the playoffs, shooting just 35.7 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc as the Nuggets lost a first-round series that saw the Minnesota Timberwolves lose multiple players to injuries.
One can’t help but wonder if the increased regular season workload played a part. Murray attempted a career-high 18.1 field goals per game after never previously exceeding 16.7, and tied his previous career high in usage rate.
For what it’s worth: He also struggled during that year’s postseason, shooting 40.2 percent from the field and 31.5 percent from distance. Those were, far and away, the least efficient postseasons of his career.
Jamal Murray has worst playoffs after heaviest regular season workloads
That’s where DeRozan comes into play as a volume scorer and quality playmaker who can take pressure off of Murray. He may not be quite as explosive as he once was, but in 2025-26, he averaged 18.4 points and 4.1 assists per game on 49.7 percent shooting from the field.
DeRozan also shot 52.0 percent on 13.2 drives per game and 47.6 percent on midrange jump shots, which are two generally untapped areas for Denver beyond Murray and Nikola Jokic.
In 2025-26, no Nuggets player other than Murray, Nikola Jokic, and Peyton Watson—who's no longer on the team—averaged more than 6.3 drives per game. DeRozan's presence should not only help take pressure off of Murray, but make Denver's offense less predictable overall.
DeRozan's three-point shooting woes may be a red flag, but it's worth noting that he still ranked in the 78th percentile in off-ball gravity in 2025-26, per Basketball Index.
The key to how DeRozan can make Murray's life easier isn't just his volume or efficiency, but the manner in which he creates offense. In 2025-26, he ranked in the 96th percentile in one on one shot making, one on one shot making efficiency, and on-ball gravity, as well as the 87th percentile in passing creation volume.
With DeRozan creating offense for himself and others, Murray should be able to shoulder a lighter workload in the regular season and even receive more off-ball scoring opportunities, thus enabling him to rise up once the playoffs begin.
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