After a magical third season in Iowa City, Kris Murray is officially a first-round NBA draft pick.
The Portland Trail Blazers selected Murray with the No. 23 overall selection in the 2023 NBA draft. A 6-foot-8, 220 pound forward, Murray joins a roster that is headlined by superstar guard Damian Lillard.
In the process, Murray became the Hawkeyes’ fourth NBA draft pick in the past three drafts. Kris also joins his twin brother, Keegan, as a first-round NBA draft pick. It marked the first time since the 1970 and 1971 drafts that Iowa had players drafted in the first round in back-to-back years.
The Murrays are also the fifth set of twins drafted in the NBA draft’s first round, joining joining Horace and Harvey Grant (1987; 1988), Brook and Robin Lopez (2008), Markieff and Marcus Morris (2011) and Amen and Ausar Thompson (2023).
Murray is the 58th Hawkeye all-time to be drafted and the 23rd in the NBA’s top two rounds. In addition to he and Keegan, Roy Devyn Marble, Aaron White, Luka Garza and Joe Wieskamp have all been drafted during the Fran McCaffery era.
Murray finished the 2022-23 men’s college basketball season by averaging 20.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. He shot 47.6% from the floor and 33.5% from 3-point range.
All of those numbers earned Murray first-team All-Big Ten recognition from both the Big Ten media and the Associated Press. He was also a consensus third-team All-American.
Social media had all sorts of reactions to the pick by the Trail Blazers. Hawkeye fans and media were naturally very, very happy for the next step in Kris’ basketball journey.