Dejounte Murray’s All-Star Case

Perhaps the biggest bright spot of the Spurs season so far has been the emergence of starting point guard, Dejounte Murray, as the best player on the team. Not only has he emerged as the clear best player on the Spurs, but he should now be considered among the stars in the NBA and deserves to make the all-star game.

He’s been putting up career numbers and is even on pace to break the Spurs’ all-time single-season triple-double record. With well over 30 games left in the season, Dejounte already has ten triple-doubles on the season, good enough for second-best in the NBA, and a total of 14 triple-doubles in his career, tying David Robinson for the most in Spurs history.

Aside from triple-doubles, Dejounte has recorded career highs in points (19.3), rebounds (8.4), assists (9.0), and steals (1.97) per game. No player in NBA history has set career highs for all four of these categories in a single season, showing just how much Murray has blossomed into the leader of this franchise. Averaging nearly 20 points per game in Coach Pop’s system is not easy, and Dejounte has managed to do that while also averaging the fourth most assists in the entire league.

If we continue to look at stats, Dejounte has proven once again that he’s one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. He is first in all of the NBA in deflections, and also second in the NBA in steals per game. He is a bonafide star on both sides of the ball.

Now to make the all-star game, Murray will need to beat out some strong competition. There is currently room enough for four guards per conference in the all-star game, as well as two wild card spots. Guards in the west that are 100% locks to make the all star game this year are Stephen Curry, Ja Morant, Luka Doncic, and Chris Paul. Other candidates that have a chance of getting in are Devin Booker, Donovan Mitchell, and Damian Lillard. Booker and Mitchell have both been having phenomenal seasons and very much deserve to make the all-star game, but Lillard has been struggling on an already struggling Portland Trailblazers team. Compared to the success that Dejounte has been having this season, I think that Murray should be ahead of Lillard on the list to get in.

As it stands right now, I believe that there are exactly six guards in the West that would get into the all-star game before Dejounte. This means that if any of these players are injured, get caught in COVID protocols, or choose not to participate in All-Star Weekend for whatever reason, Dejounte should be the first player called up to play in his first All-Star game.