It’s not if, but where for Iowa’s Kris Murray in 2023 NBA draft

Whither Kris Murray?

Not Brooklyn. At least not for Thursday night’s NBA draft. If he gets picked by the Brooklyn Nets — who have the 21st and 22nd selections — that’s a different matter.

As of Wednesday, 25 players had been invited by the NBA to attend the draft at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Iowa forward Murray was the only one to decline his invitation. He is staying close to his Cedar Rapids home with family and friends with a small draft party in Iowa City.

Kris has been to an NBA draft green room, anyway. He was in Brooklyn last year when twin brother Keegan Murray went fourth, to the Sacramento Kings, and the photo the NBA put on the arena’s big screen was of Kris, not Keegan.

If you go by NBA mock drafts at popular sports websites, Kris Murray could go, well, lots of places. So don’t go by mock drafts or any of the grifters who compose or cite them.

What everyone who follows this stuff seems to agree upon is Murray will combine with his brother to give Iowa its second first-round NBA pick in this century.

Keegan Murray made the Sacramento Kings look shrewd for taking him with the No. 4 pick in the 2022 draft, averaging 12.2 points, and making 41.1 percent of his 3-pointers over 80 games. He was named to the league’s All-Rookie team.

The consensus opinion on Kris Murray is he’ll be drafted sometime after the lottery picks (top 14) in Thursday’s draft, which starts at 7 p.m. (ESPN). Most think he’ll go from 19th to 26th. That would include reuniting with his brother at Sacramento, which picks 24th.

However, Murray attended pre-draft workouts with the New Orleans Pelicans (14th pick) and Atlanta Hawks (15th), as well as one Monday with the Golden State Warriors (19th). There were others.

Murray averaged 20.2 points and 7.9 rebounds for the Hawkeyes in 2022-23, and was a first-team All-Big Ten and third-team All-America honoree. He is regarded as a 3-and-D wing, someone who specializes in making 3-pointers and defending. That’s a pretty good label for an NBA player in 2023.

Murray will be 23 before the start of the 2023 season, making him one of the oldest likely first-rounders. It’s possible he’ll be the first player drafted who is older than 19.

That would seem to make him more appealing to a team that needs immediate help rather than one that is rebuilding.

So, again, whither Kris Muray?

It says here that he’ll go 17th to the Los Angeles Lakers, 19th to Golden State or 24th to Sacramento.

Unless it’s 18th to Miami, 21st or 22nd to Brooklyn, 23rd to Portland, or 26th to Indiana.

Or 14th to New Orleans, 15th to Atlanta, or 16th to New York.

Or, to someone else. Or, he’ll get picked by one of the aforementioned teams in one of those aforementioned slots only to be traded elsewhere.

Trades happen. The Washington Wizards dealt All-Star guard Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns this week. According to David Aldridge of The Athletic, Washington inquired about trading Beal to Sacramento, but the Kings were unwilling to part with Keegan Murray.

Should Kris Murray be available at No. 24 and get taken by the Kings, that would seem to be both a complement and compliment to Keegan Murray.

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