3 Reasons Why the Nuggets Gave Jamal Murray a $170M Extension

The Denver Nuggets gave Jamal Murray a $170M max extension. Despite a breakout 2019 Playoffs performance and elite scoring potential, does the former Cat deserve the money?

Wow. The Denver Nuggets dropped the full bank on Jamal Murray last night, according to Shams Charania:

According to Josh Penrod, the deal generated an overwhelming wave of disarmament amongst riled up Nugget fanatics. Murray, the 22-year-old Kentucky Basketball alum, just signed the dotted line on a deal tied for the largest of any former cat in the history of the NBA. I hope you heard that right and are still conscious if you did understand it so I can re-type it: Jamal Murray is the highest paid former Kentucky player EVER. The Denver combo guard agreed to terms on a 5-year, $170M extension through the 2025 NBA season that will kick in after next year. Next to John Wall’s identical sum of cash (except Wall’s deal covers only 4 years) Murray is the richest former Wildcat. Here three reasons the Canadien super-scorer secured a historic contract:

1. Scoring Ability

Dating back to his days in Lexington, Murray’s scoring prowess has served as the staple of his profile. In what might be a surprising fact, Jamal Murray has the highest point-per-game of any player in the Calipari era, averaging precisely 20.0 per contest during his lone season in blue in 2016. The dude is a flat out bucket-getter. Three-pointers, crafty off-the-dribble finishes, nasty slam dunks, finesse layups, mid-range pull-ups, the list goes on and on. Murray possesses a full arsenal of maneuvers when it comes to scoring the basketball. And in each of his three seasons in Denver so far, Murray has added significantly to his game on that end of the court.

However, like with any NBA player, especially the elite ones, he has his set of specializations. For Murray, his three-point potency (high-volume 36% shooter from deep) and ability to make tough, contested jumpers set him apart from his peers. Murray is a notorious best friend of inconsistency, but over time he has shown the ability to knock down both wide open and contested step-back jump-shots with relative regularity, a charming trait for a guard in today’s NBA.

Murray is a born archer and famously coined what I would consider the greatest celebration in the history of basketball.

He can score exceptionally at all three phases and has Hall of Fame heat-check potential. The 22-year-old combo guard scored 18.2 points-per-game for the Mile High City last year but expect that number to skyrocket in the coming years. Murray is a dynamite scorer. That I’m sure of.

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2. Fit Next to Nikola Jokic

The other Denver Nugget to earn a max extension, Nikola Jokic, is perhaps the most unique big man in the NBA. After countless fat jokes and serious doubt (from me) whether he could jump over a piece of paper, Jokic spearheaded the Nuggets’ fabulous breakout season, finished fourth in MVP voting, and landed an All-NBA First Team appearance. Utterly remarkable for a former second-round pick from Serbia.

How did he get there? Well, Jokic is part of the handful of smartest players in the league. His basketball IQ reaches a level far beyond my own comprehension and understanding. Plays develop in his mind quicker than they are executed on the court and he can predict in a matter of seconds what will happen around him during an entire offensive possession. It is absolutely incredible. If you haven’t watched him, do yourself and Jamal a favor and tune in next season. Jokic is perpetually captivating.

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Within the Nuggets offense, Jokic acts as a stationary post-up point-center. That doesn’t actually exist but for the sake of brevity, I’m going to act as if it does. Now, the whole scheme is run through Jokic, who acts as both the primary scorer and facilitator for Denver. This is where Jamal Murray comes in. For Nikola Jokic, his perfect guard compliment is someone possessing elite scoring versatility who can handle the ball multi-situationally and score effectively off the catch-and-shoot. Murray fills both voids despite not being a natural lead guard.

In Denver’s whacky yet robust offense, Murray plays the point guard role in technicality but acts essentially as someone like CJ McCollum does for the Trail Blazers: dynamite off-ball scorer capable of taking over ballhandling duties in a given possession. Murray runs some pretty wicked pick-and-rolls with Jokic–Denver’s go-to play call–but can also cut and run off-screens to get open looks when he doesn’t have the ball. The fit next to Jokic was likely unnatural at first but frequently this past season it looked like a symphony.

Murray is everything Jokic could possibly desire as a dual scoring threat. Given that he continues to improve his scoring and efficiency numbers, this duo has title-winning potential.

3. Playoff Performance

There isn’t a substitute for playoff basketball. The gap between inconsequential regular season games and all-out postseason wars is increasingly vast. In 2019, Denver finally quenched a bit of playoff success and discovered who they could trust in the coming years. Jamal Murray is on that list. Despite a few poor outings and uninspiring cold stretches from Murray, the exit surveys on his playoff run this past season are overwhelmingly positive. In just his third year in the NBA, the former seventh pick proved he has the transcendent scoring acumen to subline one of the league’s most dangerous offensive duos for years to come.

I already discussed most of the positives of Murray’s offense in the first two stanzas, but the fact he was able to showcase those skills consistently over the course of 14 playoff games deserves a segment of its own. As mentioned, there is an abrupt contrast between regular season and playoff basketball and their differing intensities. In many cases, younger players who put up prominent scoring numbers during the regular season fail to see those numbers translate to the postseason, much less immediately. Skeptics pegged Murray and the whole Nuggets operation as a regular season phenomenon destined to falter in the postseason due to a lack of scoring and veteran depth.

Contrary to widespread pundit predictions, Murray remained an effective scorer and even elevated his scoring numbers to 21.3 points-per-game on reasonably efficient 42.5% shooting from the field. Over this past season, Murray transformed from a questionable inefficient scorer into a proven number two option on a playoff team.

Jamal Murray received an eye-popping extension and, in my opinion, he deserves it. Congratulations to the former Wildcat!