Former Iowa standout Kris Murray worked hard on his game ahead of second NBA season

DALLAS — By all accounts, Kris Murray had a solid rookie season with the NBA’s Portland Trailblazers, averaging 6.1 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists over 62 games, including 29 starts.

He also played five games for Portland’s NBA G League affiliate, the Rip City Remix, and averaged 11.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, one steal and one block.

But more important than posting promising rookie numbers, he left his first season as a pro after the Blazers selected him 23rd overall in the 2023 NBA Draft feeling like he’d shown consistent improvement.

“My defensive progression throughout the season (was most encouraging),” he said. “It (the NBA) was definitely a lot faster than college, so it was adjusting to the speed on the defensive end. I feel like as the year kept going, I got a lot better in that area.”

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In March, the ex-Cedar Rapids Prairie and Iowa standout, who earned first-team All-Big Ten Conference honors in 2023, also showed how much his offensive game had evolved when, in back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Clippers, he had career-highs with 17 and 21 points, respectively.

“That was cool, finding a little bit of rhythm last season, especially at the end (of my rookie year),” he said. “Just wanted to build off that going into this year. Feel like those games last year are what I can be in the NBA and feel like that was shown pretty well.

“Those were good games for me to have back-to-back and just want to keep building off games like that in the future.”

So far this season, Murray has appeared in 26 games, all off the bench, and is averaging 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. But the major difference for him in Year 2 in the Association compared to Year 1 is simple — a higher comfort level.

“It’s been good,” he said of this season to date. “I’ve had impacts during the season, which has been nice. I feel a lot more comfortable on the court. (I) spent the offseason working a lot on my game, my body. Felt good coming into the season.

“This year, my numbers are a lot better than last year and feel like I’m a lot more confident.”

Those who follow Murray closely remember the days of him and twin brother Keegan starring for Prairie and Iowa as teammates. Keegan was the fourth pick in the 2022 NBA Draft by Sacramento. To date, his and Kris’ teams have squared off five times as pros with Keegan’s Kings holding a slight edge, at three games to two, over Kris’ Blazers.

“Yeah, I appreciate every time we’re on the court together. Obviously, I keep track of our record, and he has one on me, but we have two more in February and March, two more opportunities to get to 4-3,” Murray said. “Nothing on the line (for who wins the season series), nothing yet but you never know, something could change.”

Before the Murray brothers faced off for the first time on an NBA hardwood last season, their mother, Michelle, had planned to wear a split Kings/Blazers jersey. She ended up not wearing the combo jersey, but she and husband Kenyon, who also starred for the Hawkeyes, don’t miss a game whenever their two sons are front and center.

“They both come to the games. One will wear one of our teams,” Murray said. “They cheer for both of us, they’ll just wear different shirts.”

Portland is one of the league’s youngest teams and since last year Kris was one of four rookies on the Blazers roster. He had three fellow first-year players to divide their rookie duties between, which included getting doughnuts for shootarounds and food for the airplane on road trips.

However, he did have one rookie rite which he had to endure for the entire season — carrying a pink princess backpack. He admitted the entire experience “wasn’t too bad.”

Murray’s head coach in Portland is Chauncey Billups, who was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in August as a player. And Kris considers it a huge blessing to be able to play for a Hall of Famer like Billups.

He likes the relationship they’ve built over his first year-plus as a Blazer.

“It’s been good. In the offseason, we play golf together,” he said. “Building that relationship together has been good. He wants to get the best out of me. I’ve noticed that the end of last year and this year, he coaches me hard, which playing for Fran (McCaffrey), you’re used to being coached hard and appreciate that.

“I take honest feedback and he gives that. Definitely built that relationship with him on and off the court.”

Murray spent most of his first full offseason as an NBA player in Portland, putting in plenty of reps in the gym to improve several areas of his game.

“Worked on some tweaks to my shot, just getting my arc more consistent, a little bit higher,” he said. “Worked on that a lot and my release point on my shot ... Did a lot of hard work in the offseason, mainly on my shot, working on being more consistent. I feel like that’s been good for me so far this year.”

He also enjoyed seeing the outdoors near Portland with his four-legged friends.

“The summers are really nice (in Oregon),” he said. “There’s a lot to do, especially with my dogs. I’ve got two dogs, two Red Golden Retrievers, just taking them to the beach, to the lakes, they love it. There’s always something to do in the summers there. It’s beautiful scenery there, too.”

And even though basketball is now a full-time job, Murray still finds time to keep tabs on how the Hawkeyes are faring so far this season.

“They’ve been playing pretty well. You watch that team, they look like a tournament team,” Murray said. “They lost to three good teams and just had a good win against Utah.

“It’s been fun watching those guys playing the way Fran wants them to play. That’s when they see success, playing fast, playing together, competing hard on the defensive end. It’s been fun to watch this year.”

Stephen Hunt is a freelance writer based in Frisco, Texas.