Jamal Murray is the leading scorer of the 2023 Western Conference Finals. He's made big shot after big shot, putting the Denver Nuggets up 3-0 in the series.
It's hard to imagine that once upon a time he was being dangled as trade bait for a “bigger name”. Speaking to reporters following their Game 3 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers, Nuggets head coach Michael Malone revealed that former team president Tim Connelly once came to him with a Jamal Murray-centered deal for an anonymous star, which garnered a rather colorful response, via Sam Amick of The Athletic:
“I remember Tim (Connelly) calling me up, (and saying), ‘Hey, we can trade Jamal for this guy.’ (This was) probably three or four years ago — (and it was) a marquee player. I said ‘No.’ Like, ‘What? Let’s not rush this. We have a patient ownership group. Let’s f—ing take our time and build this the right way. A bigger name is not always better.’”
The Nuggets opted to keep their young core together, instead adding veteran pieces that fit with Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray to accentuate their strengths and cover their areas of weakness.
“Just the ability of ownership to be patient and not overreact (was key). Patience is not something you talk about in the NBA, or pro sports. And I think I, and we, are a perfect example of the results of being patient and saying, ‘You know what? Let’s continue to let this grow and marinate and mature and then we can see what we really have.’ And I think we’re seeing it.”
Guys like Bruce Brown, Aaron Gordon, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope have been indispensable to what the Nuggets have been able to do. But it was still up to Jokic and Murray to repay the trust that the Nuggets brass put in them. They're five more wins away from having their bets cash this season.
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