Spurs Continuing Homegrown Ways with Point Guard of the Future Dejounte Murray

SAN ANTONIO — The entirety of Dejounte Murray's rookie season played out, in a microcosm, during his first 15 seconds of action in his team’s 95-83 loss to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday night at the AT&T Center.

The San Antonio Spurs trailed by 13 when Murray replaced Patty Mills with 3:48 remaining. Head coach Gregg Popovich ceded the win to the Magic by inserting a 20-year-old who is solely being groomed for the future and in need of all the real-time experience he can get.

Ten seconds in, Murray jabbed the ball away from Magic guard Evan Fournier. He controlled it just long enough for one dribble and then outran the ball. Trailing the play, Bismack Biyombo poked the suddenly loose orb toward the Magic bench, where Fournier corralled it and heaved a long pass downcourt to Jeff Green, who dunked it.

It was a fitting conclusion to a play that epitomized the Spurs' frustration on their home court, where they are a shocking 4-4 after losing only once at AT&T Center last season.

The play also provided yet another lesson in patience for Murray, a slender, 6'5" combo guard from the University of Washington. Violating one of John Wooden’s oft-quoted dictums—"Be quick, but don’t hurry"—Murray missed a chance to make a play.

The 29th overall selection of the 2016 NBA draft, Murray will have his patience tried all season. Yet forbearance is in his best interest.

"You’ve got to be patient," Murray said. "Simple as that. At every level, you’ve got to work. I just learn everything: their offense, how to be a better pro. It’s my first NBA season. I’m just getting used to everything."

When Murray fell to the Spurs on draft night—ESPN’s Chad Ford had him ranked in his top 10—some draft experts instantly dubbed him the presumed successor of Tony Parker in spite of his youth and 41.6 percent shooting (28.8 percent from range).

"It feels like we do this every year," ESPN’s Amin Elhassan told viewers of the network’s draft coverage. "The Spurs are picking [at No.] 28, 29, 30, and they end up with someone that everyone says, 'Aw, how could you let him fall there?'"

As always, San Antonio general manager R.C. Buford tamped down expectations in the immediate aftermath of the selection.

"With the age of our team, adding a young kid with some pretty extensive athletic ability and the ability to grow, I don't think there are expectations to come in and catch our world on fire," Buford said about an hour after the Spurs picked Murray.

"But we like the opportunity to grow." 

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It looks like most of that growth will come in Austin, Texas, home of the NBA Development League's Austin Spurs (which Spurs Sports and Entertainment owns and operates). Murray has already played three games there, and Popovich told reporters during a presser that preceded the Spurs' Nov. 25 game in Boston that Murray should expect many more trips up Interstate 35 to Texas' capital city.

"He’s just really young," Popovich said, according to the San Antonio Express-News' Jeff McDonald. "He’s 20. He’s a total blank slate right now. He’ll have a bright future, but he needs to play. He needs to play 35 minutes a night and learn and make mistakes and not worry about them. His future is ahead of him."

Murray will make many more this season and promises he understands the need.

"I’m here to do my job, which is to work hard," Murray said. "I just turned 20 years old, so I’m going to keep working and learning. I know my time will be called if I stay focused and keep working. It’s as simple as that."

Parker is 34 and has a lot of basketball mileage on his legs after nearly 20 years as a pro and many summers spent with the French national team. Naturally, planning for the post-Parker era has been underway for a while in San Antonio.

The Spurs have drafted three other point guards since they got the Frenchman with the final selection (No. 28) of the first round in 2001: Beno Udrih, No. 28 in 2004; George Hill, No. 26 in 2008; and Cory Joseph, No. 29 in 2011.

Udrih’s obvious talent was overshadowed by his disastrous play in the 2005 NBA Finals, when Detroit Pistons defensive ace Lindsey Hunter dominated him so thoroughly that he never fully regained Popovich’s confidence. He was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2007 for a second-round pick.

Hill was seen as a potential successor when the Spurs drafted him, but Parker was still in his prime then as an All-NBA selection who led the team in scoring (22 points per game in the 2008-09 campaign). Ironically, the fact San Antonio dealt Hill to the Indiana Pacers for the draft rights to both Kawhi Leonard and second-rounder Davis Bertans in 2011 stamps him as one of the best draft picks the club ever made.

It’s doubtful the Spurs deemed Joseph a potential starter. Rather, they saw a potentially solid backup—a role he continues to play in Toronto behind another All-Star, Kyle Lowry.

In Murray, the Spurs got size and the length that comes from a 6'11" wingspan, plus loads of athleticism. The combination intrigues, even as he languishes at the end of the bench behind Parker, Mills and fellow rookie (but Argentine professional) Nicolas Laprovittola.

His upside is seen only in small glimpses.

"I don’t think any of us have the picture drawn yet," said Buford. "We’ll see. A lot of that will be determined through what happens over the next month, six months, nine months. There’s no rush."

Indeed, when Popovich opted to rest Parker for San Antonio’s Wednesday night game against the Dallas Mavericks at American Airlines Center, Laprovittola, a 26-year-old, got the start and played nearly 19 minutes. Mills played 29 and scored 15 of his 23 points during the fourth quarter of a 94-87 win that kept the Spurs unbeaten in 11 road games.

Murray never got off the bench.

Is he jealous of the 102 minutes Laprovittola has gotten compared to his 46?

"I’m happy for anybody in this league getting to play," Murray said. "Everybody can’t play in this league, and everybody doesn’t get a chance to play in the NBA. So, jealousy? Not in my vocabulary."

Through San Antonio’s first 19 games, Murray has gotten to play in only 11 and made one start, logging a season-high 14 minutes and 48 seconds during a 96-91 home-court win over the Mavericks on Nov. 21. He has appeared in only two of five games since but maintains an upbeat outlook, with encouragement from Parker, Leonard and Mills.

"Tony tells me to stay focused and keep working," Murray said. "I don’t need anybody to tell me to keep working. It’s just who I am and who I’ve always been, but hearing a dude like him telling me to keep working and 'Your time is going to come,' well, that motivates me even more."

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Mills, a product of St. Mary's College of California, also had to work his way to steady NBA playing time. He sees Murray’s potential and wants to help him realize it.

"Obviously, he's very young, and he's in a system, in an environment, where he can develop, and that's what he's going through right now," Mills said.

"I think we all understand that you're not going to turn into Kawhi [Leonard] overnight, but there's a lot of learning experience that he's going through and that he'll need to go through to get to the level that he's at. But [I’m] definitely taking him under my wing to learn the ropes and understand how the game works. With minutes and a little bit more game time under his belt, he'll learn that. He'll be fine."

Murray also leans on longtime friend Jamal Crawford, the Los Angeles Clippers guard who befriended him eight years ago in Seattle, where Murray played for the same high school that produced Crawford.

"[We talk] all the time," Crawford said. "From high school to college to now, it’s never stopped. It’s been a constant thing. He’s always asking questions. He’s always been inquisitive about what’s going on. He asks for advice, and I’ll text him about different things. It’s a great friendship, I guess."

Crawford has no doubt Murray is in the right spot to develop into a player who will make other teams regret letting him drop into the Spurs' laps in June.

"He couldn’t have landed in a better situation," Crawford said. "I think San Antonio is the gold star for the NBA, as far as the right way to do things. For him being a young player, just being a sponge to everything going on, it’s a terrific, terrific opportunity."

All quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Stats are accurate heading into Friday's games.