DENVER -- First things first: The Celtics did very well for themselves by selecting Jaylen Brown at No. 3 during the 2016 NBA Draft amid a lottery field that was littered with disappointments.
Dragan Bender at No. 4 failed to have his fourth-year option picked up last month by the Phoenix Suns. The same was true for Marquese Chriss, who was selected at No. 9. Other 2016 high picks have put together some good numbers on bad teams (Brandon Ingram, Buddy Hield) or underwhelming numbers on bad teams (Kris Dunn).
Brown has delivered the goods during both the regular season and postseason stage at the age of 21, cementing himself as a top-5 selection in that 2016 class if that draft would be held again today. Just how high he would go behind Ben Simmons is still up for debate. One of his main competitors on that front made a statement on Monday night though against the Celtics as Jamal Murray torched the visitors for a career-high 48 points in the midst of an impressive 112-105 win for the Denver Nuggets. Murray went at No. 7 to the Nuggets in 2016.
Brown finished with 14 points in the setback, struggling again from 3-point range (1-of-4 from deep) again as he battles through an early-season slump that has him shooting 37 percent from the field and 29 percent from 3-point range in nine games.
Through ten games, Murray is the top scorer (18.9 ppg) for the 9-1 Nuggets who have wins over the Celtics and Warriors already on their schedule. On Monday night, his out of this world performance probably had Celtics fans wondering what if after Danny Ainge elected to pass on him in favor of Brown in 2016.
On the surface, Brown still looks like the better fit for any team in today’s NBA. At 6-foot-7, he’s longer and more athletic than Murray. He’s a versatile defender that can handle multiple positions, such as guarding power forwards like Paul Millsap in the post on Monday night.
The 6-foot-4 Murray is far less imposing from afar, but his offensive potential exceeds what Brown is capable of and that much was apparent on Monday night. Murray punished the Celtics in all areas of the floor, from the pick-and-roll to spot-up shooting to finishing around the rim on the way to his 48-point night, an effort that left the Celtics looking for answers.
“An excellent individual performance,” Brad Stevens said of Murray. “We tried a lot of different guys, a lot of different coverages. We tried to go small and switch. We tried to do a lot of different things, and he pretty much cooked us all night. He had a heck of a game.”
The Celtics have the best defense in the NBA through ten games yet they were embarrassed by the 21-year-old Murray who got rolling with 23 points in the first half and never looked back.
“We sent two at him most of the time in the fourth and by then he’s just rolling so much,” Stevens explained. “I thought he got a couple of easy ones that made him feel good right out of the gate. He had been struggling shooting the 3 coming into this game, at least vs. his level, and we left him early and he had that 10-point run in the first half when we were really scoring the ball, and from that point on, he was just lights out. He was tremendous. We tried a lot of different things and none of them worked. He deserves credit.”
The idea of the Celtics taking Murray in 2016, a scenario that was very much in play according to one team source, would have created an intriguing alternate reality for this squad in 2018. Murray would have been playing behind a long list of guards in 2016 (Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier) a glut that may have been a factor in Boston ultimately passing on him that June. How he would have developed within that crew would have been a serious question mark, although his offensive prowess probably would have earned him opportunities out of the gate.
Murray’s presence would not have kept the C’s from targeting a player like Irving, but it’s fair to wonder whether he would have been used as a trade chip in that Irving deal or another transaction if his minutes were limited in year one or two.
Instead of that hypothetical logjam, Murray got playing time right away for an emerging Nuggets squad and has established himself as a top scoring dog alongside Gary Harris in one of the most promising young backcourts in the league.
Murray hasn’t had a chance to perform on a stage as big as Brown yet after missing the postseason by one game last year, but his opportunity will be coming soon enough after Monday’s effort in which he outdueled Kyrie Irving (31 points).
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It was just a fun game,” Murray said afterward. “I wasn't thinking about learning. I only went to school for a year. I was only thinking about putting the ball in the basket. That's what I was taught to do. It was a really fun game. He's a hell of a matchup. I think there was a point where we were both scoring so much back and forth, we just both stood at the 3-point line, like, both tired. It was a fun game, though. My legs are killing me.”
Irving himself gave Murray plenty of props despite the fact he upset the All-Star by going for 50 points with a meaningless 3-pointer as time expired, a big no-no in the NBA’s unwritten rulebook. Irving responded by throwing the ball in the crowd after the buzzer sounded.
“I mean, what kind of competitor wouldn’t it bother?” Irving said. “I understand if we fouled him, going to the free-throw line. I don’t want to make a big deal out of it. Obviously, I was pissed at the game, but it’s time to decompress and move on. Congratulations to him having 48 points. He did it in a great fashion against us. Our defense has to be better especially against a player like that in the pick-and-roll. He was the primary concern tonight and he made us pay in certain instances of making some tough shots and some tough layups. But the ball deserves to go in the crowd after a [expletive] move like that. So I threw it in the crowd.”
The young Murray apologized for the move.
“I think my emotion took over, as it normally does when I get going like that,” Murray said, “No disrespect to the Boston organization, the Boston fans for that last shot. I just had it in my mind I was going for 50. I think everybody understood that's what I was trying to do. I really didn't mean no disrespect. I know half the team over there, so no hard feelings. It was just a fun game and my emotions took over.”
The hoopla surrounding that choice should not take away from just how impressive this performance was for Murray. He brought the Nuggets back from an 18-point first half deficit with ease and made quick work of everyone from Kyrie Irving to Al Horford to Marcus Smart all night long. Few players around the league can get whatever they want against a Brad Stevens’ defense and Murray was one of them on Monday night. Brown isn't capable of putting together a performance like we saw from Murray. His offensive skillset just isn't there and may never reach that level.
Does that mean the C’s made a mistake in no taking them? It’s too early to tell on that front with Brown (age 22) and Murray (age 21) having so much untapped potential to work with. Still, the answer on the offensive side of the ball is becoming more clear after an outing like this. Whether or not Murray can excel in the raised stakes of the postseason remains to be seen, but Monday’s atmosphere was about as close as you can get to it in the regular season. For a Celtics’ offense that is still somehow languishing in the bottom five of the league, Murray looked like a piece that could ultimately leave this Celtic team (and several other teams) with regrets on passing over him in 2016.
