Jamal Murray has slowly developed into the right choice to start alongside Gary Harris after a long preseason back-and-forth between him and Emmanuel Mudiay, to determine who will take over the reins of the point guard position. Following a 33-point explosion against the Oklahoma City Thunder, teammate Will Barton compared his 20-year-old floor general to another former teammate of his — Damian Lillard.
“I don't know about a 20-year-old,” said Barton, asked if he's ever seen another 20-year-old with Murray's skillset, according to T.J. McBride of Mile High Sports. “I know Dame. When he first came into the league he had that. Coming into he league with no experience, (Lillard) had that, and Jamal has that too, but Jamal is younger.”
Murray has had a different road than Lillard, as the Kentucky product was highly-touted as one of the best pure shooters of the 2016 NBA Draft, getting off to a hideous start to his career, and eventually picking it up by the All-Star Rising Stars game, where he won MVP after a 36-point, 11-assist outing.
Lillard was a relative unknown coming out of Weber State, but his scoring punch was undeniable — making him a starter from the get-go and not missing a start at the point guard position in his first three years in the league.
The two possess a similar ability to catch fire and get buckets in bunches when they do, but the similarities unfortunately stop there. Lillard was 22 after playing in college for four years while Murray was merely a freshman at the NBA factory that Kentucky has become, making their experience with the game vastly different coming into the league.
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