He's a poor finisher at 6'8. He's decent from floater range which is really the only thing he has going for him scoring wise. He sucks at shooting and messes up OKC's spacing. He's a bad defender. And for a guy whose only strength is supposed to be passing, he turns it over a lot.
It seems like every advanced stat hates him too. EPM ranks him as the 8th most negatively impactful player in the league and the most negatively impactful player on a team with a top 10 record. He has the lowest net rating out of the Thunder's rotational players, and OKC is +16.6 (!!) with him off the floor.
I get that he went 7th overall and OKC had to see if they might not regret picking him so high. And they could afford to because winning wasn't a priority. But they're a great team now and could contend right away if they weren't giving 27 minutes a game to this bum who's a net negative on both ends. Giddey has started every game of his career, ffs.
Why the hell is OKC treating him like a key part of their young core along with SGA, Chet, and JDub? It makes no sense to me.
But the way Jokic elevates Murray isn't magic. Murray's lowkey one of the best off-ball players in the league. He's elite at cutting, relocating, and catch & shoot. I think stars should get credit for having scalable playstyles, especially if they're in that 16-25 range and can't be the #1 on a championship team.
That being said this is tough since both elevate in the playoffs, and Brunson is probably the safer option.