NBA Draft Preview: Trey Murphy III should be targeted by Detroit Pistons

What is Trey Murphy III ceiling?

Not only does Trey Murphy III have a jumper that mirrors Mikal Bridges and Devin Vassell, but I would say those are his easiest comparisons.

Both are lanky wing defenders who provide consistent spacing for their teammates. They are thought of as 3-and-D players, but I think both guys offer a lot more little things, like attacking closeouts and have one or two go-to moves off the bounce, that gives them extra dimensions to their games.

For Murphy, it is his finishing ability. The way he was able to catch lobs, cut to the rim for dunks, and be in the dunkers spot at Virginia make his comparison closer to Mikal Bridges for me, since Bridges has been at the 2-4 spots for Phoenix. I think Murphy can be in a similar role.

And being a Piston fan, I call this the Tayshaun Prince role. What others call a “glue guy,” I think more of as someone who is a clear-cut starter and does every single little thing well to compliment his four other starting teammates. Like Tayshaun, Murphy can take tough defensive assignments, hustle up and down in transition on offense and defense, and hit threes at a very high rate to make defenses have to commit a defender to him at all times.

If (and one never knows) Murphy does indeed develop his ball handling skills, then I could see his ceiling being a wing similar to Khris Middleton. It is a big if, but again, he is a lanky shooter who has athleticism and size to play the 2 through the 4 positions, similar to how Middleton began his NBA career (with Detroit, if you have a long memory).

In conclusion:

Being a LEGIT shooter, and with the Detroit Pistons most likely taking Cade Cunningham with the first pick, Murphy’s fit on the team is seamless.

He’ll provide consistent spacing for Cade and Jerami Grant to operate as lead scorers and ball handlers, Murphy and Saddiq would form a top-notch shooting duo on the wing, and his size would make a starting lineup where Saddiq Bey would be the shortest player at 6-7.

And if the team decided to re-sign Frank Jackson and Wayne Ellington (things I really hope they do), then they would have an amazing shooting rotation of Saddiq, Trey Murphy, Jackson and Ellington. This would make a huge difference, in my opinion, since the Pistons would be able to have two 40 percent three-point shooters on the floor at all times.

Murphy’s size and skill combo is definitely not going unnoticed, and I believe it will require the team to move up using their multiple second round picks and maybe throw in a player like Mason Plumlee or Josh Jackson to get into the back half of the first round.

But with his game fitting perfectly into an already promising young core, I think Trey Murphy III should be one of the Detroit Pistons primary targets for a move up back into the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft.