Is Former Iowa Hawkeyes Standout Becoming a Lost Cause?

This former Iowa Hawkeyes standout is struggling mightily on the NFL level.

Mar 17, 2025; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Kris Murray (24) stands for the National Anthem before the game against the Washington Wizards at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Soobum Im-Imagn Images / Soobum Im-Imagn Images

The Iowa Hawkeyes are definitely more known for their football program rather than their basketball acumen, but they have placed a few players into the NBA recently.

Two of them were twin brothers: Keegan and Kris Murray.

While Keegan was certainly the more highly regarded of the two, Kris was still considered a solid prospect, which is why he was selected by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft.

Murray was a force at Iowa, playing both ends of the floor and establishing himself as one of the best all-around players in the Big Ten. Unfortunately, it has not gone that way for Murray in the pros.

The 24-year-old is now in his second NBA season and has shown very little signs of improvement. As as a matter of fact, he may have regressed this year, as he is averaging 4.1 points and 2.5 rebounds over 14.3 minutes per game on 44.1/24.2/41.3 shooting splits.

Yes, those shooting splits are ugly, and they don't seem to be getting any better for Murray.

In fact, through eight games in March, the Hawkeyes product is shooting just 31.4 percent from the floor and a miserable 6.7 percent from three-point range.

Over his first two NBA campaigns, Murray is making just 25.9 percent of his long-distance tries and owns a paltry true-shooting percentage of 48.4 percent.

Is it still early in Murray's career? Absolutely, but you would hope that he would have shown some sort of potential this year. Instead, he is actually playing less minutes as he continues to fall out of favor with Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups.

It's getting to a point where Murray could be a lost cause, at least in terms of his offensive production. Perhaps a change of scenery would do him some good, but it seem hard to imagine that will suddenly fix his broken shot.

One thing about Murray is that he is a solid defender, so he has that working in his favor. But if he can't corral his shot, it may be difficult for him to find consistent playing time anywhere moving forward.

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