Ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season, Jamal Murray received a massive $208 million extension, but his level of play hasn’t been a reflection of that. On Monday night, the Knicks handed the Nuggets an embarrassing 145-118 loss on their home court. As a result, ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins directed his frustration toward the Canadian guard’s subpar play.
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Perkins took to ESPN’s First Take to express his emotions surrounding the Nuggets following their loss to the Knicks. The former NBA champion has repeatedly pleaded for Murray to step up his play this season, and the sentiment hasn’t changed. He said,
“I’ve been saying this since the start of the season. When is Jamal Murray going to help a brother out? When is he going to raise his level of play to All-Star level? We aren’t even talking All-NBA, and help Jokic out. He’s averaging about 17 points right now. He hasn’t averaged those types of numbers since his second year in the NBA.”
Perkins isn’t wrong, this is Murray’s lowest scoring point per game total since his sophomore season. During the season, Murray averages 17.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 6.0 assists. This is nearly a four-point dropoff from last season, in which he averaged 21.2 points per game.
Murray has never been an All-Star in his career. However, due to the loss of Bruce Brown a season ago and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the summer, Perkins expected better from Murray. The 6-foot-4 guard has all the opportunity to play at an All-Star level yet has failed to do so.
In addition, Murray’s lackluster play has left Nikola Jokić with an overwhelming offensive burden. The three-time MVP is having the best statistical season of his career, with averages of 29.7 points, 13.4 rebounds and 10.9 assists per game. On far too many occasions, Jokic is left without substantial performance from someone who is supposed to be the team’s second-best player.
This isn’t the development the Nuggets envisioned following Murray’s four-year $208 million extension. Perkins implied that the expectations for Murray increased along with his paycheck. However, he’s failed to meet those expectations. If the Nuggets want to return to championship form, they simply need Murray to be better.
Murray’s struggles this season
Ahead of the season, Murray struggled heavily with Team Canada in the Paris Olympics. His struggles have seemingly carried over to the 2024-25 season.
Shannon Sharpe alluded to Murray’s struggles from the international tournament. “Did you see Jamal Murray in the Olympics?” Sharpe said. “Could he help Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out? Could he help his country out?” In the Olympics, Murray averaged only 6.0 points on 29% from the field. It seems he hasn’t left that version of himself in France.
Along with Murray’s low point totals per game, his efficiency is the worst of his career. He’s shooting a career-low 40.2% from the field in a career-high 35.6 minutes per game. Last season he shot an amazing 42.5% from three-point range. That mark is nearly 10 percentage points down at 33.7%.
Despite the amount of basketball Murray’s played in the past few months, Stephen A. Smith attests that the Nuggets guard doesn’t look in shape. “One thing that I do know is that I’ve looked at him in the past and he clearly has looked in better shape,” Smith said.
Murray still has plenty of games left in the season to get in game shape. However, the Nuggets don’t have the time to spare. They’re 9-7 on the season and in jeopardy of falling behind the pack. Murray needs to improve his play, and he needs to do it immediately.
