Two Huskies Invited to NBA Draft Green Room

Two Washington basketball players have been invited to the green room for this year’s NBA Draft.

Freshmen forward Marquese Chriss and fellow freshmen guard Dejounte Murray have both been invited to sit in the green room of the NBA draft floor, where they are expected to hear their names called in the first round of the NBA Draft this upcoming Thursday.

While many expected Chriss to receive an invite to the green room, Murray’s invitation has come as a serious surprise to many. Murray’s late resurgence and excellence in pre-draft workouts have dazzled NBA scouts and left them drooling to see what he can do for their team.

Scouts have been drawn to Murray’s height and slashing ability, which have made him a tantalizing prospect for NBA teams. However, Murray’s weight, at 170 pounds, and his age, 19, mark the biggest concerns for NBA scouts, as many have noticed that Murray struggled with decision-making at times during his college career.

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But, if Murray can add weight his first few years and develop his game in the D-league, that he’ll make a great prospect in the future. Most mock drafts have Murray going to the Phoenix Suns at 13th overall, however, there have been reports that the Milwaukee Bucks are very interested in Murray at 10th overall. Either way, getting invited to the green room is a great sign for Murray, as it suggests he will indeed get taken somewhere in the lottery.

Meanwhile, Chriss has been soaring up draft boards since the end of the college basketball season.

Chriss’ athleticism and shooting ability make him one of the top stretch four options in this draft, and with the success of Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors, many NBA teams are looking at Chriss to stretch the floor for their NBA teams.

The only weakness that NBA scouts have pulled from Chriss, is his maturity and lack of rebounding production in college. Many UW fans became frustrated at Chriss’ knack for getting into foul trouble and as a result, hurting his team because of ticky tack fouls and poor decision-making.

This puts Chriss into the “project” category as well for NBA teams, just with much more upside than Murray. Most mock drafts have Chriss going 4th overall to the Phoenix Suns, which could result in Murray and Chriss becoming teammates again in Arizona.

However, I think Chriss could go anywhere from 3rd to 7th overall, as both Boston and Phoenix, owners of the third and fourth picks in the draft, may be looking for “win now” type players rather than projects.

Either way, the draft future of these two prospects looks promising. We won’t know until Thursday night where these two former UW stars will play next season, but my projections have Chriss going 4th overall to the Phoenix Suns, as the Suns are the only team he worked out for individually, and I have Murray going 14th overall to the Chicago Bulls.

This would mark the first time two Huskies have been drafted in the first round of the NBA  draft since 2012, when teammates Terrence Ross and Tony Wroten were drafted 8th and 25th, respectively.