503 2-point shooting, which put him in the 68th percentile, jumps up to the 88th percentile when only mid-range shots are accounted for, and at-rim shots are included. What is less certain, however – and arguably more important, since there is much more ground to gain – is whether Murray can improve his scoring at the rim. 400 would likely put Murray at or above the 90th percentile, and this seems to be an attainable goal. Murray’s 3-point shooting has already come a long way, as he moved up from the 50th percentile as a rookie to the 86th as a sophomore, and it seems reasonable to project continued progress from the arc, albeit perhaps at a slower climb.
Jamal Murray's 2-point, 3-point, and free throw percentages in the 2017-18 season. But as the chart below shows, there is more room for improvement in his field goal shooting, especially on 2-point shots. More specifically, per Murray’s high FT% puts him in the 98th percentile of players at the same position. Already dwelling among the cream of the crop of free throw shooters, there is not much higher to rise. 905 free throw percentage was seventh in the league among players who made at least one free throw per game, with only five players topping the. One factor which could potentially limit Murray’s ability to become an even more efficient scorer is the fact that his free throw shooting is already so elite that it will likely be difficult to improve upon much. It may be the case, however, that continued gains in efficiency may not come so easily to Murray. If this indeed comes to pass, it will be great news for the Nuggets, whose offense will only become all the more lethal. This clean bill of health is just one additional factor which reinforces the multitude of signs – his being an exceptional shooter for a sophomore, the player profiles of those who achieved similar results around the same age and experience level, and the steady upward march of his efficiency – which point to Jamal Murray being on a clear path of improvement going forward in his third year. The upcoming season should be the first one Murray enters fully healthy, as a lingering sports hernia which required surgery in April of last year and hampered him throughout his first two seasons looks to be completely healed. 580 – targets that seem plausibly attainable given his current trajectory – that would elevate him to a fairly elite tier of efficiency among all NBA guards. If, like Harris, he were to improve these numbers by approximately 3% to around. Statistics via Ĭonsider that Murray finished the 2017-18 season with percentages that were slightly higher but in the same ballpark as Harris’ after his second year, with an eFG% of. Gary Harris' cumluative eFG% and TS% through his first three seasons. (For those who are unfamiliar with TS%, it is a kind of all-encompassing shooting statistic that accounts for the added value of 3-point shots and free throws.) 576 last season), the list dwindles to a mere 14 players, the majority of whom are future or present Hall of Famers. Removing the over-three-assists requirement from the above set of players and replacing it with a true shooting percentage of over. (On a Nuggets side note, when sorted by win shares, Nuggets center Nikola Jokic is second on this list, after LeBron James and ahead of Chris Paul.)īut what puts the Blue Arrow in a more rarified tier among this group is his shooting efficiency. In terms of shooting efficiency, the Nuggets appear to have a genuinely special player in Murray.Īlthough his sophomore counting stat line of 16.7 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game may not leap off the page, the list of NBA and ABA players since 1946 to average better than 15-3-3 as second-year starters while 21 or younger is just 23 players long, per.