Atlanta Hawks 2021 NBA Draft Prospect No. 3: Trey Murphy fits the mold of current Hawks forwards and could make for a nice bench option in time
2021 Stats: 11.3/3.4/1.2; .503/.433/.927
The Hawks boast some of, if not the best wing depth in the entire NBA. There are no fewer than four young, solid contributors to a contender in Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter, Cam Reddish, and De’Andre Hunter. Throw in savvy veteran Danilo Gallinari and this is easily a strength for Atlanta.
Trey Murphy III, a 6-foot-9, 209-pound wing is in the same mold as those guys offensively and while this is a position of strength for the Hawks, this is depth and project territory.
The 21-year-old junior transferred after two years at Rice and his numbers took a hit. And while he did score about two fewer points per game, the only real decline was in his rebounding where he went from grabbing 5.5 to 3.4 per contest.
His efficiency skyrocketed, however, and Murphy walked away with a 50/40/90 slash line.
Was easy to see why Virginia's Trey Murphy is moving up NBA team draft boards watching his Pro Day rehearsal workout yesterday. Bouncy 6'9, long-armed wing who shot 43% for 3 and still has plenty of upside to tap into. Starting to move in to the mid-first round conversation. pic.twitter.com/9W1gp2ZnHl
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) June 27, 2021
Murphy had 12 points and four rebounds to go with a pair of steals in the Cavaliers line NCAA Tournament game. In one conference tournament game, he had 15 points, four boards, and two steals, but added two blocks for good measure. If nothing else, Murphy proved unflappable as his production stayed relatively the same regardless of the stage.
He has great length for the position but is rail-thin for his projected power forward position and, understandably, lacks the strength to be much of a factor attacking the basket or on defense.
But that stroke from beyond the arc is a skillset the Hawks could have used this postseason as their shooters went cold from outside. We saw in Game 1 of the NBA Finals how much of a difference-maker it is.
Atlanta could do much worse than Murphy, whom they wouldn’t rely on anyway, 20th overall.