Jamal Murray is fresh off his first All-NBA team appearance, he's coming off his first All-Star appearance, and he had a career year in most of the important statistical categories. He also had a bit of a playoff dud compared to his regular-season numbers, and his perimeter defense was spotty against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He's a fan favorite, of course, and Nuggets fans will always have a soft spot for Mal. But is now the time to capitalize on his season and trade him?
The Nikola Jokic Murray duo has been together for a decade, sans a year when Murray was out with an ACL injury. They've accomplished a lot together, including their first All-NBA team appearance this year and, of course, winning the NBA title in 2022-23.
But the Nuggets didn't look good against the Timberwolves. Given how good the Spurs and Thunder look, plus how much younger they are than the Nuggets, it raises questions about what the Nuggets will do to compete with them in the future. Unfortunately, all options are on the table outside of trading franchise cornerstone Jokic, and that means Murray is on the trading block.
Murray's the biggest trade chip the Nuggets have
The fact is, Murray is the biggest asset the Nuggets have to trade. And now his value has never been higher. If the Nuggets capitalize on it, they could set themselves up for a solid return that could help them in the future as well.
Take, for example, the speculative trade offer that involved the Portland Trail Blazers. It gave the Nuggets Jrue Holiday, a defensive stopper, who would fix the Nuggets' perimeter defense right up. They would also receive Scoot Henderson and two future first-round picks.
The reason a trade like that is beneficial for the Nuggets is that it solves a defensive problem and would get them a former number-three draft pick, plus fill two of the three holes left by the three missing first-round picks that have been traded away in the future.
Solve a problem, upside, and future youth. Sounds like a decent path.
Murray has not been "playoff Murray" for three years
Another sad truth is that Mal hasn't shown up like the "playoff" or "bubble" mode he needs to be for the Nuggets to get back to the Finals. He averaged 26.1 points in the playoffs during the Nuggets' championship season of 2022-23, and 26.5 points during the Nuggets' "bubble" run to the Western Conference Finals in 2019-20.
Murray averaged 23.7 points this year, stepping up his scoring like in the regular season, but he shot just 35.7% from the floor, well below the 48.3% he shot during the regular season. But that's his highest playoff point total since 2022-23.
At the end of the day, Murray's value has never been higher, and the All-NBA nod may have just elevated his value even more. The Nuggets need to capitalize on trading him now, while he's at his most valuable, if they're ever going to trade him.
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