NEW YORK — Two of the last three No. 1 picks in the NBA Draft have been Canadians.
Three of the last six No. 1 picks have played at Kentucky.
But never has a Canadian who played at Kentucky gone with the first overall pick.
Anthony Bennett (2013) went to UNLV, while Andrew Wiggins (2014) spurned Kentucky and Florida State for Kansas.
Now here comes Jamal Murray, the 6-foot-5 Canadian guard who most likely won’t go No. 1 in Thursday’s NBA Draft, but could go anywhere after the No. 2 pick. The top two picks are widely expected to be former LSU forward Ben Simmons and former Duke forward Brandon Ingram.
Both Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress.com and Chad Ford of ESPN currently have Murray slotted at No. 6 to the New Orleans Pelicans, which happen to feature one of Kentucky’s former No. 1 picks in Anthony Davis.
“It’s hard to put a label on [one team] especially when you don’t know where you’re going and there’s so many trade possibilities and free agency and all that, so I’m just kind of waiting for Thursday to come and enjoy that moment,” Murray said Monday on a Facebook live chat associated with Johnsonville sausages, which he is promoting.
He also joked that he wouldn’t mind playing for his hometown Toronto Raptors, but since they pick at No. 9 it seems unlikely he will last that long.
“That would be crazy,” Murray said. “It would be like LeBron bringing home a trophy to Cleveland, Cory Jo[seph] in Toronto.”
Kentucky coach John Calipari, always one to champion his program and players, told Andy Katz last week that Murray is “the safe No. 1.”
“If you’re going to take the No. 1 pick, you probably should do it from our program,” Calipari said.
“I believe I’m the best player in the draft, but every team needs what they need,” Murray said after a recent Celtics workout.
Ironically, earlier this season, Calipari said Simmons looked like the No. 1 pick.
“Well it’s early, but yes,” he said in January.
Calipari said he watched Simmons for a half in high school at Montverde Academy at an event in Sacramento and said, “That is the best high school player right there.”
While Simmons is probably the best player in this draft, Murray and Providence’s Kris Dunn are in the conversation for the best guard.
“[Murray] can stretch the defense, play off the ball and the NBA is going positionless,” Calipari said. “He can flat-out shoot the ball and is physically ready.”
While Murray played primarily off the ball at Kentucky because of Tyler Ulis, Tony McIntyre, who coached Murray with the CIA Bounce AAU team, says NBA teams will be surprised by how good a facilitator he is, too.
“I think in the league he’s going to be a 1-2,” McIntyre said on The 4 Quarters Podcast. “I think he’s definitely a capable and confident scorer but at the same time I think it’s relatively unknown based on what he did at Kentucky of how good of a passer, how good of a point guard he is as well.
“So I think he’s going to be a versatile guy that’s going to bring a lot to any team that drafts him.”
NN
