Jamal Murray

[IDreamCeltics]

Went 8/9 shooting and 3/3 from 3 point land in the 4th quarter last night.

From Bleacherreport:

"His 21-point fourth-quarter eruption Tuesday produced a shocking 114-105 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2, salvaged a series split and may have saved Denver's postseason."

In 2016 with the 3rd pick overall the Celtics passed on both Murray and Buddy Hield (who averaged 21 ppg this season and has averaged 42% from 3 for his career) for bench player Jaylen Brown.

Both Hield and Murray were elite shooters and the focal point of their college teams.

In college Jaylen Brown struggled to stand out on a team loaded with talent.  People blamed the coach for not being able to make the pieces fit. 

It's interesting to me that all three players seem to be continuing their trajectories from college.  Did Ainge overthink another draft and whiff on the elite prospects?

[mr. dee]

Murray would average the same or even less numbers than Brown if he played here. He would be an upgrade over Rozier though.

Let's not forget Brown carried this team deep in the playoffs last year when called upon as the primary point of offense.

[esel1000]

You do remember that Jaylen won us multiple playoff series last year right? We went to the ECF when Jaylen was the equivalent of a college sophomore leading the team.

I wouldn’t exactly use Murray’s performance last night as a barometer either. He’s been garbage outside of that quarter.

[Green-18]

Went 8/9 shooting and 3/3 from 3 point land in the 4th quarter last night.

From Bleacherreport:

"His 21-point fourth-quarter eruption Tuesday produced a shocking 114-105 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2, salvaged a series split and may have saved Denver's postseason."

In 2016 with the 3rd pick overall the Celtics passed on both Murray and Buddy Hield (who averaged 21 ppg this season and has averaged 42% from 3 for his career) for bench player Jaylen Brown.

Both Hield and Murray were elite shooters and the focal point of their college teams.

In college Jaylen Brown struggled to stand out on a team loaded with talent.  People blamed the coach for not being able to make the pieces fit. 

It's interesting to me that all three players seem to be continuing their trajectories from college.  Did Ainge overthink another draft and whiff on the elite prospects?

No, I don't believe Ainge overthought the draft.  None of those three players project to be franchise building blocks, which means that overall fit matters quite a bit.  Jamal Murray and Buddy Hield would make sense for the majority of teams in the league.  On the flip side, Jaylen has the potential to be an elite defensive stopper and transition scorer.  Those skills can make a huge difference when you are a championship caliber team.

[jambr380]

Ainge was a in a no-win situation at the time of the draft. He had the 3rd pick in a two-player draft and various draft sites had each of the next 6 players as serious contenders for the 3rd pick.

Murray and Hield might very well go on to have better careers than Brown (that is certainly yet to be determined); but we should be pretty happy that Ainge didn't choose Bender, Chriss, or Dunn. Dunn hasn't been a total bust like the other 2 (especially would have at #3), though.

[Vox_Populi]

I'm fine with the Brown pick. Hield is basically a star and Murray will be one if he ever develops any consistency. But I think Brown has shown enough for it to be at least defensible.

[Chris22]

The way the league is going, a team full of elite three point shooters might be the way to go.

[slamtheking]

Brown was a questionable choice at the time of the draft but I've become convinced over the past 3 years he was the right pick.  Hield is just getting it together this year and Murray's been good for a couple of years but the bottom line is neither is close to Brown defensively and Brown's shown the ability to put the offense on his back during last year's playoffs.  if not for an absolute disastrous offensive game by everyone on the C's in game 7 in the ECF last year, he'd be the principal player leading that team to the Finals.  I don't see Hield or Murray being that type of player.

[hwangjini_1]

Brown was a questionable choice at the time of the draft but I've become convinced over the past 3 years he was the right pick.  Hield is just getting it together this year and Murray's been good for a couple of years but the bottom line is neither is close to Brown defensively and Brown's shown the ability to put the offense on his back during last year's playoffs.  if not for an absolute disastrous offensive game by everyone on the C's in game 7 in the ECF last year, he'd be the principal player leading that team to the Finals.  I don't see Hield or Murray being that type of player.

as i recall, which should make everyone rush to the web to double check what i am about to say, hield, brown, and murray were clustered around the 3rd pick in most people's minds. the big question on brown was his shooting, particularly from 3 point range.

brown has answered that question. all three are now very good players. brown may not bring quite the scoring of the others on a nightly basis, but he does bring a lot bette defense.

i suppose the answer as to which is the best may depend upon what you value in a player.

oh, and on hield, i just checked and he is around 4 years older than brown and murray.

[Moranis]

I still the think the whiff from that draft was not trading with the Sixers (assuming the rumored trade was actually on the table). 

[Monkhouse]

Murray was 0/8 before he went on his explosive 8/9 shooting.

Malone is a great coach and said, "I knew in my heart he needed to get those minutes. I knew I needed to believe in him."

Beautiful sentiment from one of the greatest coaches in my book, think he's been underrated. Murray is someone I liked, because of his confidence/bravado.

That being said Brown is just as good, if not better ceiling. A dominant two way player that can give any one fits on man to man defense. People get super hyped about Murray's 4th quarter, but Brown and Tatum were the key reason that we got to the ECF last year.

[Walker Wiggle]

Please don't compare Hield and Brown just because they were drafted the same year. There's a four year age difference.

[Smartacus]

Went 8/9 shooting and 3/3 from 3 point land in the 4th quarter last night.

From Bleacherreport:

"His 21-point fourth-quarter eruption Tuesday produced a shocking 114-105 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2, salvaged a series split and may have saved Denver's postseason."

In 2016 with the 3rd pick overall the Celtics passed on both Murray and Buddy Hield (who averaged 21 ppg this season and has averaged 42% from 3 for his career) for bench player Jaylen Brown.

Both Hield and Murray were elite shooters and the focal point of their college teams.

In college Jaylen Brown struggled to stand out on a team loaded with talent.  People blamed the coach for not being able to make the pieces fit. 

It's interesting to me that all three players seem to be continuing their trajectories from college.  Did Ainge overthink another draft and whiff on the elite prospects?

I can produce posts showing that I wanted Jamaal Murray with the 3rd pick and specifically argued against drafting Jaylen but this post goes way overboard.

The 2 bolded lines reek of a biased perspective .

1. Jaylen would start for over half the teams in the league. How in any way does that make him "bench player Jaylen Brown"?

2. Loaded college team? Who'd he play with Jabari Bird? Jaylen's Cal team was always mediocre, DA drafted him in spite of his college performance because he thought that he could show more on a balanced roster.

Whether or not that has happened is irrelevant, the premise you present is flawed.

-----

As I said I wanted Murray and thought he might be just the guy to take the reigns from Isaiah. But Isaiah isn't here any more. We have Kyrie. Now if Kyrie walks, yes it stings missing out on Murray but if Kyrie stays we still have one of the top under utilized assets in the league in Jaylen Brown.

All it will take is one GM convincing himself that Jaylen can do more than he's shown and flip over some premium assets for the chance to try. I always say keep an eye on Atlanta since I could see Jaylen rising into a star next to Young and Collins and he has significant ties to the area.

If we can flip Jaylen in a beneficial deal he was absolutely worth the selection.

[cltc5]

I wanted hield

[cltc5]

Please don't compare Hield and Brown just because they were drafted the same year. There's a four year age difference.

James young