The 2024-25 NBA season is off to a rocky start for the Nuggets and fans are growing concerned about point guard Jamal Murray.

Through the first four games of the season, Murray is averaging 18.8 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, but shooting 37.9 percent from the field. Murray’s play to open the season is a continuation of the struggles he experienced during the 2024 NBA Playoffs and with Team Canada during the Paris Olympics.

Murray has had some bright spots through his struggles, but not enough to alleviate some of the concerns about his overall effectiveness for the team. As Denver looks to turn things around, better play from Murray would be a great starting point.

What’s wrong with Murray? Here’s a look at what may be impacting your game over the past eight months.

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What’s wrong with Jamal Murray?

Murray’s efficiency has been steadily declining since the end of the 2023-24 regular season.

It’s early, but Murray’s 37.9 percent field goal percentage is the lowest mark of his eight-year NBA career. Nor is his inefficiency a product of his injection diet. Murray is attempting his fewest three-pointers per game (5.0) since his rookie season (4.2). His 39.1 percent shooting on 11-plus attempts inside the arc is by far a career low.

The table below illustrates some of the problems with Murray, although each sample size gets smaller and smaller. Note his 6.0 points per game on 29.0 percent shooting more than four games during the Paris Olympicsand the trend seems much more real.

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Beyond the numbers, Murray has not looked his best at times. Defenders have made him nervous as he struggles to create space, often resulting in difficult possessions and contested shot attempts.

Dorian Finney-smith doing his part to blow up the Nuggets’ season pic.twitter.com/tgKAsDx3IW

– Dan Favale (@danfavale) October 30, 2024

More than half of Murray’s shot attempts are jumpers. This season is rolling. 33.3 percent in pull-ups, a stark contrast to the 44.9 percent shot in pull-ups at a similar volume in 2023-24. It is an important shot for your success.

Because Murray can’t get to his bread and butter effectively, he and the Nuggets continue to struggle.

An encouraging sign for the Nuggets is that Murray has a history of starting the season slow. For his career, he averaged 14.6 points per game on 40.4 percent shooting in October. He typically peaks in February, posting 19.1 points per game on 48.6 percent shooting for his career.

It will be interesting to see if that trend continues this season.

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Is Jamal Murray injured?

Murray has not appeared on the Nuggets’ injury report this season. However, he has dealt with and overcome several injuries, some of which appear to have had a lingering effect.

After missing the 2021-22 season recovering from an ACL repair, Murray reached peak form during the Nuggets’ championship season in 2022-23. Last season, Murray missed time late in the season with an ankle injury before returning to the lineup.

Murray suffered a calf strain at some point during the first round of last year’s playoffs and was visibly affected by the injury, as evidenced by his lack of efficiency. He worked to manage the injury during the offseason and the Olympics, but still seems hampered by some type of ailment.

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Jamal Murray contract details

During the 2024 offseason, Murray signed a four-year, $208 million contract extension that will keep him in Denver at least through the 2028-29 season.

The agreement officially takes effect after the next season. Here’s a look at his new year-over-year salary: