Dejounte Murray, the starting point guard for the San Antonio Spurs, is one of the most promising players on the young Spurs roster. From the greater Seattle area, where many NBA players have come from, Murray has been playing with accomplished NBA veterans from an early age. He played one year of college basketball with the University of Washington and was drafted by the San Antonio Spurs with the 29th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. His defensive potential was immediately obvious, as he was named for the All-Defensive Second Team in his second season.
A preseason ACL tear caused Murray to miss all of the 2018-2019 season, but he returned for the 2019-2020 season. His offensive game continues to grow, as he has demonstrated a far improved jump shot and ball handling in his new role as the Spurs’ primary ball handler.
Murray attended Rainier Beach High School in Seattle. He led the team to a state title and was named Mr. Basketball and the Seattle Times Player of the Year.
Murray played one season for the University of Washington. He started all 34 games as the team’s point guard, averaging 16.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.8 steals per game.
At the season’s end, he was named to the All Pac-12 Second Team and the All Pac-12 Freshman team. He declared for the 2016 NBA Draft.
Murray was drafted with the 29th overall pick by the San Antonio Spurs. Coming into the league, he was praised for his defense and athleticism but there were concerns about how the offense would function around him given his limited shooting. At first, his role was limited, appearing in only 23 regular season games. However, his season-high of 24 points against the Denver Nuggets made him the youngest Spur to score 24 or more points. When Tony Parker was out with a leg injury, Murray got the starting berth in the Spurs’ playoff run starting with Game 3 of the Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets, and he helped the team win the series and advance to the conference finals where they lost to the Golden State Warriors.
In his second year Murray appeared in 81 games and started 48 of them. He scored 8.1 points per game but shot under 30% from three. However, his defensive contributions were important to the team, especially with Kawhi Leonard’s absence due to injury, and he became the youngest player to make an All-Defensive team.
A preseason ACL tear caused Murray to miss all of the 2018-2019 season. Until the 2019-2020 season was suspended due to coronavirus, Murray was the Spurs' starting point guard. He showed significant improvement on both 2 and 3 point jumpers, and again was very important on the defensive end, ranking 7th in the league in steals at the time of suspension.
Dejounte Murray has earned $4M of his $6.3M rookie contract and has a 4 year, $64M extension that runs from 2020-2024. He has an endorsement deal with New Balance.
Dejounte Murray signed a 4 year, $64 million extension with the San Antonio Spurs in 2019.
Murray's high school produced many NBA players, including Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson. Murray credits some of these players as important mentors growing up. Murray has a daughter named Riley.
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