He Can Take on More of a Scoring Load

Tony Parker and Murray have a lot in common, including speed and unexpected strength that helps them get into the lane and finish. It took Parker several years to develop a shot beyond the top of the key, and despite being drafted in 2001, he didn’t hit over 33% for consecutive years until 2012-2013 when he racked up five straight seasons of doing so.

In his rookie season, Murray only took 24 shots from beyond the arc and made nine of them. He played 1,400 extra minutes last season but only shot from three 34 times in total, still only making nine of them. At the moment, this is not an issue.

Murray’s ability to burst off screens, as well as darting inside while playing off the ball to receive an easy pass from an Aldridge post-up means he can bump his scoring average up from 8 last year to 14 or 15 points per game.

There are several players on the team who could go off for a game or two at a time – Manu Ginobili, Rudy Gay, Patty Mills, Marco Belinelli and maybe Lonnie Walker – but the reality facing these players is that few of them will be able to average much more than 8-10 points.

The Spurs need 60 points before those additional players can chip in. Last season, Aldridge finished with 23, as did DeRozan. Playing together, both players might dip in their scoring output slightly, which means Murray might need closer to 16 per game.

If they can do that, the Spurs will have a chance of reaching 100 points most nights. This will be needed because the team will probably not be as strong defensively, which brings us on to our next point.

Next Up: Reason 2