Murray was only the No. 7 show in 2016. Who are the first 6 players? How to develop in the league

When it comes to the strongest non-All-star player at the moment, Jamal Murray is undoubtedly one of the best candidates. As the Nuggets' well-deserved second-in-command, Murray has proved his strong strength in the playoffs many times in his career. Among them, the 2023 playoffs is the best example. That year, Murray averaged 26.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 7.1 assists, 1.5 steals and 3 three-pointers, with a shooting percentage of 47.3% and a three-point shooting percentage of 39.6%. With his help, the Nuggets also successfully won the championship in the final of that season.

And Murray's strongest ability is his scoring ability at critical moments. Even if he has always felt bad in a certain game, he can score in the end. For example, in the 2024 playoffs, against the Lakers' series G2, Murray scored 20 points in the whole game, but in the end he still faced Davis' defense and completed the buzzer-bearing final. During Murray's playoff career, he played a total of 12 games where he would be eliminated if he lost. During this period, he averaged 27.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game, and the Nuggets also achieved a record of 9 wins and 3 losses.

Now, it was very lucky that the Nuggets could pick Murray in the 7th pick in the first round in 2016. If he was selected by the previous team, he would not be able to find a player with outstanding strength and such a chemical reaction with Jokic in that class. Next, we will take a look at the 6 players who were selected before Murray to see how they have developed after entering the league!

6. Buddy Hilde averaged 15 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists in his career. He was already 24 years old when he entered the league. His biggest feature is his own shooting, and indeed he has shown his potential as a top scorer since the second season. However, before the age of 30, Hilde had been playing in bad teams, so this inevitably made people question the value of his data. In fact, the outside world did not misjudgment this time. Hilder was prone to inaccurate when he reached the high-end game. In 2024, he made the playoffs for the first time with the team. In addition to G6's burst of 6 three-pointers, the remaining three-pointers he played in total were only 0 of 4 three-pointers, and at the same time, he was one of the biggest shortcomings on the field on the defensive end.

However, after joining the Warriors this season, Hilder greatly regained his reputation. Although his performance was not stable throughout the season, at least this time he still played the game he was best at. This year's playoffs, Hilder averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 2.8 three-pointers, and his three-point shooting percentage was as high as 42.9%. Although he still couldn't even make an open shot on some nights, it was already incredible that he could make progress at the age of 32.

5. Chris Dunn

Average of 7.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4 assists and 1.5 steals in his career. When Dunn, who was known as Wade's draft template, was obviously very favored at that time, but unfortunately, his physical fitness and offensive skills were still much worse than Wade's. In addition, his shooting was even more messy, so he soon stopped being a star optimistic about the media. After that, Dunn joined too many teams, but his offense has never reached the qualified level, which has led to him having only a defensive ability but not enough playing time to display.

Dunn, who joined the Clippers this season, finally got the team's heavy use. He did perform well in the Clippers' defensive system, but the problem is that his shooting is too bad. As long as he is on the court, his opponent will unscrupulously emptie him. Apart from shooting, Dunn has no other scoring methods. In this way, he is completely an offensive black hole on the court. Considering that he is already 31 years old, his chance of being able to get out of the offensive in the future is basically 0, so he is probably eliminated by the NBA soon.

4.Dragan Bendell, averaging 5.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists in his career, As the most soccer player among the six players selected before Murray, Bendell was completely unable to realize his talent in the NBA. He only played here for four seasons when he entered the league in 2016. During this period, he performed best in the year and averaged only 6.5 points, 4.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, and his shooting percentage was as low as 38.6%. It is worth mentioning that the media were very optimistic about Bendell at the time. The Suns selected him, and media such as ESPN also gave at least an A-rating.

3. Jaylen Brown averaged 19 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1 steal in his career. As a core member of the Celtics' revival, Brown's performance in the early stages of his career was far from being as outstanding as he is now. He averaged only 6.6 points in his rookie season, and even in his third season of his career, he could only play as a substitute in most games. Fortunately, gold will always shine. From the fourth year, the Celtics gave Brown a higher tactical position, and he also seized this opportunity and gradually became a star at the best lineup level from that time. In 2023, Brown and the Celtics signed the largest maximum salary contract at the time, and then he helped the team win the championship in 2024, and he also successfully won the FMVP, a valuable personal award. However, with Tatum's serious injury this year, the Celtics' plans will also change, which of course involves Brown. Considering the salary pressure and potential luxury taxes his big contract brings to the team, it is not ruled out that the team will put him on the trading shelves later.

2. Brandon Ingram

Average of 19.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists in his career

At first, I thought Ingram was the future of the Lakers, but with the arrival of James, the Lakers did not have so much time to wait for him to grow, so in 2019, the team seized the opportunity to exchange him and other chips for thick eyebrows.. After coming to the Pelicans, Ingram's personal performance ushered in a qualitative leap. In the 2019-2020 season, he averaged 23.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1 steal. Therefore, he was not only elected as the fastest-progress player, but also selected as the All-Star.

However, since 2020, Ingram has not achieved other personal achievements. Because of the team's poor record, the management no longer trusted him. In the end, the two sides officially parted ways in the middle of this season, and Ingram was also traded to the Raptors. But due to injury, Ingram has not yet made a debut with the Raptors. After his comeback next season, with players such as Barnes and Barrett, the Raptors may have a chance to make some noise in the East.

1. Ben Simmons averaged 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists and 1.5 steals in his career. As the most popular player of this year, Simmons' draft template is Magic Johnson, and many fans call him James' successor. At the beginning of his career, although Simmons' performance was not as good as James and the Magic, he did perform well, so he was also selected for the All-Star, Best Team, and Best Defensive Team.

However, since losing to the Hawks in the 2021 playoffs, Simmons has seemed to have "breaking the heart of Tao", so he began to decline all the way. In addition, his own offensive shortcomings are obviously troubled by injuries. This season, he has directly changed from a maximum salary player to a basic salary. The last person who received such treatment was Westbrook in the 2022-2023 season. It is worth mentioning that these two people chose to join the Clippers after buying out. However, Simmons is not as good as Westbrook back then. He averaged only 0.8 points and 1.4 rebounds per game this year. The sluggish offensive end made Tyron Lunn not want him to play.