This is an updated version of my original scouting piece on Collin Murray-Boyles.
The intersection of fit and talent looms large in the selection of Collin Murray-Boyles to the Raptors. Personally, I think his mix of talent and grit are massive, and should propel him to a really impressive NBA career.
Here’s the numbers:
Height: 6’6.5″ / Wingspan: 7’0.75″ / Standing Reach: 8’10” / 239 lbs
16.8 ppg / 8.3 rbs / 2.4 asts / 1.5 stls / 1.3 blks / .586/.265/.707 / 63% TS
The most alluring aspect of Murray-Boyles’ game is his defense. Despite being undersized for a power forward (and very much so at the NBA level), he combines his length with explosive movement, aggression, and almost preternatural ability to read offensive players – to blow up plays constantly.
“My physical presence. That’s something that I feel puts me ahead of a lot of defenders. My willingness to defend, that’s my #1 thing. That’s what gets me going in games. That’s what gets my team going – when I’m playing defense.” Murray-Boyles said after being drafted. “And that’s something that I know my team needs from me. So, they’ll (Raptors) be getting a hard player and a hard worker for sure.”
Bobby Webster echoed that sentiment: “We had our eye on him going into the season. Elite defence, versatile, good hands. He has a chance to be a really, really good defender in the NBA.”
Murray-Boyles’ defensive utility spans a lot of different coverages and matchups. Considering his weight, he is a freakishly fast mover. Considering that he’s carrying far more weight than both, his agility scores coming in at similar numbers to players like Cooper Flagg & Carter Bryant was really encouraging. His weight, strength, and length help him hang in against other bigs, naturally, and he has the quickness to stonewall a lot of different players in isolation; but he shines first and foremost as a player in rotation, with his intimidating mitts – that get on everything.
If Murray-Boyles is one pass away, or the low man, or zoning up the weak-side – he’s a terror. He makes elite guards kill their dribble often, and his digs frequently result in steals. He jumps passes all the time, and his timing + length as the low man allows him to guard way above his height at the rim. His 2.9% steal rate and 4.7% block rate were massive, and he manages to playmake on defense without getting burned often. He’s one of the rare players who can playmake constantly on the defensive end while also keeping the ball out front.
With his ball screen defense, he’s entirely too physical and quick for most players to deal with or outfox. If you watched the NBA Finals you would have seen how the Thunder are capable of destroying high ball screen actions, and CMB provides something similar to what Lu Dort & Alex Caruso do there. There’s a clip in the package I provided where CMB pops out on the most athletic guard and the best dribbler in the class, Jeremiah Fears, and completely blows up the pick n’ roll action. He’s an absolute terror.
“I watch a lot of Draymond, his switchability is amazing. How Aaron Gordon did in the playoffs was amazing. His physicality – how physical he was, was something I really keyed in on.” Murray-Boyles said. “Young defenders – Toumani Camara, Jalen Williams. Young defenders that know how to use their hands and have high IQ – that’s something that I try to incorporate into my game as well.”
He’ll be a knockout on defense. No one worries about that stuff. Everyone worries about the offense.
So, the big worries on offense are largely tied to his jump shooting, and we all know how a lack of a jumper is capable of limiting players. Obviously, Murray-Boyles’ 26-percent mark from downtown at South Carolina was less than stellar (it’s just bad) and the 7/25 performance he put up at the combines spot up 3-point shooting was extremely worrisome.
When I put on the shot doctor hat there’s a few things that seem clear to me. Murray-Boyles has a lot of stuff going on in his jumper. He crossfires often, his guide hand creeps over onto the ball and he two hand pushes at times, and he has a low gather point. You can ignore these types of things if the player in question is an effective shooter, but with CMB there’s clearly a lot of things wrong and they have to be addressed – at least in part, and he’s been working to address them in the lead up to the draft.
“I know that this is a 3-pointers league. So, I’ve been working on it since pre-draft started. I came out early just to get my mechanics right. So, my confidence is through the roof now. I’ve been putting in a lot of work, and once that is shown in light, my game will expand from there.” said Murray-Boyles of his jumpshot.
What is a little paradoxical, at least to me, is that I think he has tremendous touch. He shot 63-percent at the rim while incorporating a very difficult shot diet. He shot 54-percent on his hook shots this season, and he had one of the best performances on pull-up 2’s at the draft combine (22/30). I don’t think it’s a home run by any means, but I do think there’s a chance that a player like Murray-Boyles who so clearly has relatively elite touch, could sort out his jumper from downtown someday. Although, this is as hypothetical as it gets. If you don’t believe in the jumper at all, I wouldn’t blame you.
Now, the most exciting and impressive aspect of Murray-Boyles’ offense is his driving/attacking game. South Carolina did him very few favors in creating advantages or spacing the floor on his behalf, and Murray-Boyles was dynamite at knifing through the lane and to the rim for finishes with a live dribble. This feature of his game is largely why I find the Jonathan Mogbo comps to be nonsensical. Mogbo played strictly as a big, with no variety to his shot diet. Murray-Boyles was an all out creator at the college level, in the SEC, and was one of the best drivers in all of college basketball in my mind. I think he has the capability to beat bigs in space using his dribble, and to bully guards/wings with his strength. I think he can mine those advantages for points in the halfcourt. In transition I have no worries, that would be easy enough for him.
In addition to his driving game, he is a 240 pound young man, who can set flat screens, ghost screens, or regular screens; plant all of them, and operate out of them as a roller or popper. He is more than comfortable to facilitate that kind of offense should a team want him to. If that’s what you think he’ll be best at in the NBA, I’d be worried, but if you believe in this stuff as a tertiary skill then it’s easy to see how he could provide a lot of value doing this when teams want to find interesting screening partnerships to punish weaker defenders. If teams play their bigs on him trying to roam off, then he can carve out tons of space for his ball handler or create a switch for the guard to attack – or create a post touch against a small for himself.
It’s been about 3 years in a row of watching the playoffs and seeing teams go down the line of different screening partnerships, and how important that dynamic has become. He also makes some pretty interesting passing reads. I didn’t find him to be very good passing out of the drive, but I thought he was pretty solid as a short-roller and as a post passer.
In my work covering Murray-Boyles in the lead up to the draft he wasn’t a popular selection with the Raptors fanbase at all. He is, however, one of my favorite players in the whole draft. I think he has tremendous upside, and will be an incredibly unique and intriguing player to watch on the Raptors.
I’ll have more on him when I cover him in Vegas.
Have a blessed day.
