The San Antonio Spurs entered the 2021-22 season making their first real shift towards rebuilding in 25 years, having traded LaMarcus Aldridge a year ago and then sending DeMar DeRozan to the Bulls in a sign-and-trade this summer. With DeRozan in particular gone, the Spurs were fully handing the keys to their offense over to their youngsters, with Dejounte Murray taking the reins as point guard to now run and execute the offense.
Murray has seen his usage rate jump from 23.4 percent last year to 26.6 percent this year, as he has become the catalyst for just about everything in San Antonio. He has rewarded the Spurs for placing that increased responsibility on his shoulders, by having the best season of his career, increasing his production without seeing his efficiency take a hit, and continuing to provide elite-level defense at the point of attack. Murray is averaging career-highs pretty much across the board, with 19.9 points, 9.3 assists, 7.0 rebounds, and 2.0 steals per game (the latter a league-leading number), and while there’s still room for improvement as a shooter (31.9 percent from three), he has answered just about every question about his ability to run the show offensively as a point guard.
Without DeRozan, the Spurs were in desperate need of a shot creator, someone who could both get others shots while also creating opportunities for themselves off the bounce. Murray has accepted that challenge on the young Spurs, and has taken a leap as a result. In terms of creating for himself, Murray is shooting the most unassisted shots of his career (80.3 percent of his twos and 28.4 percent of his threes are unassisted) and he’s actually been a better finisher at the rim (65.8 percent) than he ever has despite having to get those looks more on his own.
Where Murray has really shined though is as a facilitator, where he has taken a massive jump, setting the table for his teammates and being at the center of just about everything the Spurs offense does when he’s on the floor. Murray’s assist percentage has leaped from 25.9 percent a year ago to a staggering 41.1 percent this year, putting him in the upper echelon of creators in the NBA, with only Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Chris Paul, and Nikola Jokic ahead of him in that category, and he’s managed to become an elite facilitator without seeing a noticeable uptick in turnovers (10.2 percent last year to 11.1 percent this year).
All the while, Murray continues to be one of the league’s best perimeter defenders, boasting a rare combination of length and speed that presents a formidable problem for opposing guards. Murray isn’t a household name, as he’s new to a leading role and has been elevated to that on a team on the fringes of play-in contention, but he has more than garnered the respect of players and coaches around the league, who are swift to point out the problems he creates for them on both ends of the floor for a San Antonio team that lacks other elite-level talent.
The Spurs hoped this year would point them in a direction for the future as a franchise, one that has rarely been adrift but found itself seeking a new on-court captain for the first time in a long time this season. It didn’t take long for them to find that in Murray, who has eagerly seized the wheel in San Antonio and gives Spurs fans reason for optimism that their time outside the playoff picture may be short-lived as he takes the leap to being a bonafide star.