DENVER – The Denver Nuggets selected Kentucky shooting guard Jamal Murray of Canada with the No. 7 pick in the NBA draft as they try to turn around a franchise that’s missed the playoffs the past three seasons.
The 19-year-old Murray, from Kitchener, Ont., is coming off a freshman season in which he averaged 20 points a game – the highest scoring average for a Wildcats player under coach John Calipari. The 6-foot-4 Murray also had 113 3-pointers, the second-most in NCAA history for a freshman. The only freshman who had more was Steph Curry (122).
Denver has two more selections in the first round with Houston’s spot at No. 15 – courtesy of the Ty Lawson deal – and the No. 19 pick via Portland.
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The Nuggets are coming off a season in which they finished 33-49 in coach Michael Malone’s first season in charge. They showed signs of improvement behind point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, the seventh overall selection a year ago. He may now be paired with Murray to form a prolific backcourt.
Denver was the only team to beat both Golden State and San Antonio during the regular season – a small consolation prize for a team that up until a few years ago was a consistent playoff participant.
Above all else, the Nuggets were searching for another scoring threat and certainly got it in Murray, the Canadian sharp-shooter who can score buckets in bunches. The team needed that given the injury history of Danilo Gallinari, who went out with an ankle injury in February. Wilson Chandler will be back next season after missing all of last year following hip surgery.
A bright spot for Denver last season was the emergence of twin towers Nikola Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic. Malone experimented with pairing the tandem on the court late in the season and it proved effective. The 6-foot-10 Jokic made the NBA’s first-team all-rookie squad, while Nurkic turned in some of his best work down the stretch as he recovered from a knee injury.
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