Kris Murray’s preparation for NBA draft intensifying as June draws nigh

Last weekend, Iowa’s Kris Murray was in Sacramento as a fan, watching his brother’s Kings defeat the Golden State Warriors in the first game of their best-of-7 playoff series.

While Keegan Murray and the Kings continue dueling the defending champions from San Francisco, Kris is in Chicago as he spends several weeks working out and practicing in preparation of the June 22 NBA draft.

Kris knows what he has to do, and not only because his twin brother got picked No. 4 in the 2022 draft by the Kings. Kris went through the pre-draft process as well, and worked out with his brother and other Priority Sports clients before withdrawing from the draft and returning to Iowa for his junior season.

He’s all-in for the NBA this spring, having declared himself an early entry ready to go pro.

“It’s definitely familiar territory,” Murray said Wednesday. “This year I know there’s just one goal in mind, and it’s to be able to get drafted this year.”

Last June, Kris saw his face on a Barclays Center video screen when the Kings announced they were using the draft’s No. 4 pick on his brother. On June 22 in Brooklyn, perhaps this time the league will have the right photo to go along with the right Murray on draft night.

A year is a lot of time to learn things about the NBA, especially when your brother is averaging 12.2 points and making a league rookie-record 206 3-pointers over 80 games for the Pacific Division champions.

“I would say the biggest thing is just identifying your role early,” Murray said. “Keegan was really able to do that with the Kings and kind of carve out his role on that team, and be a professional in that role.

“I think the way he’s carried himself the year ever since he’s been a professional has been really admirable for him.”

Keegan Murray led his team in 3-pointers and made 41.1 percent of them. He established himself as a catch-and-shoot player who could burn opponents when they overplayed 25-points-a-game guard De’Aaron Fox.

Kris Murray spoke Wednesday of “redefining his skill set” in the months ahead. “Just sharpening everything up, my ballhandling, my catch-and-shoot,” he said.

“Toward the end of (Iowa’s) season I kind of showed I could be a little bit more of a playmaker. I know that I can be, whether it be coming off ball screens, making a play for others. It’s doing different things like that.

“It takes a complete game to play in the NBA and have success.”

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