Collin Murray-Boyles’ rookie season ended in the best way possible, showing he can be a real win-now piece while delivering a phenomenal first playoff run. At Toronto Raptors media day, Darko Rajakovic spoke about CMB’s second year and how, entering the offseason, the staff challenged him to slim down and improve his conditioning. It appears Murray-Boyles met their expectations and then some.
“He put in outstanding work. You know, not a lot of people know, but we talked to him that he needs to get in even better, you know, shape. And on his own, apart from every workout and everything, he was going outside and running 30 minutes every single day. So he he put tremendous amount of work this summer and I think he's ready to make next step in his career offensively and defensively,” said Rajakovic.
As Rajakovic said, Murray-Boyles's year-two potential goes up substantially with a slimmer frame, and according to CMB himself, he already can tell the difference.
“I definitely feel it. I can feel the explosiveness more now. Just feel more bouncy, more energetic,” Murray-Boyles told TSN’s Josh Lewenberg at training camp.
Going into his sophomore season, I was already pretty confident CMB was going to be even more impactful than he was as a rookie. But now I’m starting to feel like a full-fledged breakout is coming.
CMB's second year could be bigger than expected
When you think about what makes CMB so special defensively, it’s similar to Scottie Barnes' versatility.
His ability to defend the basket, be a threat on the glass, fluidly switch on the perimeter, and generate turnovers on and off the ball while playing with insane energy is why his ceiling on that end is so high. Now imagine all of that with more explosiveness to jump passing lanes or rise and block shots or quicker foot speed when switched onto those speedy, shifty guards on the perimeter. Or how about even more energy?
You mean to tell me that Murray-Boyles said he has even more energy than he did at the end of last season when he was the team's defensive spark plug off the bench? That’s nuts.
Then you factor in that he isn’t going to be tasked with as much responsibility defensively as he was last year because Toronto added another elite two-way talent in Kawhi Leonard. That’s when fans can start to get excited about how his new fitness can translate to the offensive end.
Murray-Boyles has already had a solid handle for a frontcourt player, a very high IQ, and playmaking tools. Now you give him more speed on the open floor to attack the basket or make reads as a playmaker, and Rajakovic may have a Scottie B. 2.0 off his bench this season. With that same improved quickness, CMB will also be even better at exposing opposing bigs on the perimeter and blowing by them the way someone like Julius Randle does.
At no point did it seem like Murray-Boyles was out of shape last season. Sure, he was a bigger dude, but he never seemed out of gas or low on energy because he plays so hard and is a horse on the glass. So if the message from both Murray-Boyles and the Raptors staff is that he is going to play with more energy and be more explosive, he may be on his way to becoming the second Most Improved Player in team history.
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