Keegan Murray Believed His Versatility Fit Well With Rockets
HOUSTON — The 2022 NBA Summer League tournament in Las Vegas has been a tour of what-if scenarios for the Houston Rockets.
The tournament began with a match against Paolo Banchero and the Orlando Magic on July 7 and will end with a game against Keegan Murray and the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.
Murray has arguably been the best rookie prospect competing in Las Vegas. He is entering the final game of the summer league tournament fifth in scoring, averaging 23.3 points on 50.0 percent shooting from the field, while connecting on 40.0 percent of his shots from behind the arc.
The Kings drafted Murray with the No. 4 pick of the 2022 NBA Draft — one selection after Houston took Jabari Smith Jr. third overall.
As a projected top-five pick, Murray knew there was a slight chance he could have landed in Houston following the draft results on June 23. And he believed his on-court attributes would have made him a fit in Houston.
"They [the Rockets] have a really young corps," Murray said prior to the NBA draft on June 16. "They’ve built for the future. Plugging me into their culture and what they do, I think will help me with my versatility. They have a lot of guys on the wing, a lot of different guys that can play different positions. I think they are trending in the right direction."
Murray revealed he met with several draft lottery teams but did not specify whether or not he held a pre-draft workout with Houston. His draft stock exploded following a flourishing sophomore campaign at Iowa.
While averaging 23.5 points for the Hawkeyes, Murray proved he could be more of a scorer throughout the 2021-22 college basketball season and validated his play in four summer league games. Murray is entering the contest against the Rockets, averaging 7.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals.
Murray vs. Smith will make for a competitive finale during the last summer league contest in Las Vegas.
But Smith's on-court production through the first four games is enough for Houston not to lament their decision to draft the reigning SEC Freshman of the Year winner one spot ahead of Murray.
Smith has been on a summer league tear of his own averaging 15.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.3 blocks across four games.
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