Now that Iowa forward Keegan Murray has chosen to forgo his remaining years of eligibility, it appears he is in line for lottery pick money. That’s what For The Win’s Bryan Kalbrosky is projecting anyways.
Kalbrosky put together his 2022 NBA mock draft 5.0 where he predicted every pick of both rounds. In Kalbrosky’s latest mock draft, he forecasted the Sacramento Kings to draft Murray with the No. 6 overall pick.
Don’t overthink this one. I feel that Iowa’s Keegan Murray was pretty clearly the best player in college basketball and his skill set translates perfectly to the NBA.
All season, this guy was a scoring machine who could create his own basket at the rim with ease. He was also a good shooter and defensive playmaker; there is not very much he cannot do. – Kalbrosky, For The Win.
The Kings would be adding a player in Murray that burst onto the scene as a national player of the year candidate this past season with the Hawkeyes. After averaging 7.2 points per game as a freshman, Murray upped his average by more than 16 points in his breakout sophomore season. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native finished the 2021-22 season averaging 23.5 points per game. The 6-foot-8, 225 pound forward also averaged 8.7 rebounds per game, which ranked second in the Big Ten.
Before Murray at No. 6, Kalbrosky had the Houston Rockets taking Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren No. 1 overall, the Orlando Magic drafting Jabari Smith No. 2, the Detroit Pistons selecting Duke’s Paolo Banchero No. 3, the Oklahoma City Thunder landing Purdue’s Jaden Ivey and the Indiana Pacers choosing Arizona’s Benedict Mathurin.
Kalbrosky projected the rest of the lottery picks as follows: Duke’s AJ Griffin No. 7 to the Portland Trail Blazers, Wisconsin’s Johnny Davis No. 8 to the San Antonio Spurs, Kentucky’s Shaedon Sharpe No. 9 to the Portland Trail Blazers, Ohio State’s Malaki Branham No. 10 to the Washington Wizards, Baylor’s Jeremy Sochan No. 11 to the Memphis Grizzlies, Memphis’ Jalen Duren No. 12 to the New York Knicks, LSU’s Tari Eason No. 13 to the Atlanta Hawks and Duke’s Mark Williams No. 14 to the Charlotte Hornets.
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