Keegan Murray named NBA Summer League MVP

Iowa’s Keegan Murray was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Summer League in Las Vegas.

Murray played in four games for the Sacramento Kings in the league, which wrapped up its schedule Sunday. He averaged 23.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.3 steals in 31.9 minutes per game.

He shot 50.7 percent from the field, 41.2 percent (21-of-51) from 3-point range, and 84.4 percent (27-of-32) from the free-throw line.

Murray was the fourth pick in the 2022 NBA draft. He was a consensus first-team All-America at Iowa last season.

Of those who played more than two games in Las Vegas, Murray was second in scoring behind only Cam Thomas of the Brooklyn Nets, last year’s co-MVP with Sacramento’s Davion Mitchell.

Previous Summer League MVPs include Blake Griffin, John Wall and Damian Lillard.

Murray played in three other games for Sacramento before the Las Vegas event. In the California Classic in San Francisco he averaged 19.7 points over three games.

His scoring was consistent, with six games of at least 20 points, and a high of 29 in the Kings’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder and No. 2 pick Chet Holmgren.

Murray made a particularly memorable play with a last-second, game-tying 3-pointer against the Orlando Magic.

Tari Eason (Houston Rockets), Quentin Grimes (New York Knicks), Sandro Mamukelashvili (Milwaukee Bucks), and Thomas joined Murray on the All-Summer League First Team, according to the league (Twitter links). Thomas and another King, Davion Mitchell, shared the Summer League MVP award in 2021.

Former Iowa State guard Lindell Wigginton was a second-team pick. Wigginton, entering his fourth year as a pro, averaged 18.2 points over his five Las Vegas games for Milwaukee.

Luka Garza, a former Iowa player entering his second pro season, played for the Summer League-champion Portland Trail Blazers. Garza averaged 6.5 points and 14.2 minutes.