2022 NBA Draft: Sacramento Kings select Keegan Murray, Iowa Forward

Iowa forward Keegan Murray is off the board in the 2022 NBA Draft. With the No. 4 pick of the first round, Murray was selected by the Sacramento Kings.

Murray heads off to the NBA after two successful years at Iowa, where he really broke out as a sophomore. During his freshman season, Murray was always going to have a tough time breaking out with the would-be National Player of the Year Luka Garza taking up most of the minutes and possessions in the post.

Garza finished as one of the top scorers in all of college basketball in 2021. However, in 2022, Murray came out as a sophomore and nearly matched his production. He averaged 23.5 points during the 2021-22 campaign as Iowa finished with the no. 3 offense in the country for the second straight season (per Bart Torvik’s numbers).

Murray was also the nation’s fourth-leading scorer in points-per-game and finished as the NCAA’s leader in total points for the year with 822. His monstrous scoring increase coupled with excellent efficiency — especially from beyond the three-point line — rocketed him into lottery consideration throughout the season as he cruised to consensus All-American status.

The only detraction in Murray’s profile is his age. Though he was just a sophomore in 2021-22 and enters the draft after two seasons in college, he is actually the same age as most of the seniors in the draft. He turns 22 before the start of the next NBA season, which is old by draft standards. These teams typically prefer prospects who broke out at younger ages. When it comes to the draft, it’s a teenagers’ game. For instance, Jaden Ivey, another high draft selection, was also just a sophomore this season, but turned 20 recently. He’s more than a year and a half younger than Keegan Murray.

Nonetheless, Murray’s size and shooting ability at that size was hard to pass up despite the age concerns. Congrats to Murray and good luck to the former Hawkeye at the next level.