He might not catch the eye of the casual NBA fan as the most notable rookie from the 2025 class, but there’s no doubt that Collin Murray-Boyles deserves respect. That respect comes from both those who are high on him within Raptors Nation and those outside the dedicated Raptors fanbase who have noticed CMB’s potential, especially on defense where he stands out the most.
In a recent piece by Raptors insider Michael Grange for Sportsnet, he highlighted the following about Murray-Boyles' showing during training camp: "Collin Murray-Boyles was also as advertised. The rookie taken ninth overall has earned praise from his teammates and coaching staff for his energy and athleticism — “a beast, a monster” — was how Scottie Barnes referred to him the other day."
Now, it's one thing for someone who closely covers the Raptors to praise CMB, and for his teammates and coaches to speak highly of him — though I believe their praise is absolutely genuine. However, recently on The Zach Lowe Show, guest John Hollinger echoed the sentiment that Collin Murray-Boyles is a standout prospect. If you're not familiar with Hollinger, he spent seven seasons as the Vice President of Basketball Operations for the Memphis Grizzlies. He is also the creator of the PER (Player Efficiency Rating) system and a tenured NBA analyst.
Ex-NBA executive John Hollinger is a dedicated believer in Collin Murray-Boyles
Hollinger has been a strong supporter of Collin Murray-Boyles for a while now. In a post-draft piece for The Athletic after the South Carolina product was selected ninth overall by Toronto, Hollinger stated in his analysis: "This pick may surprise some people, but I had Murray-Boyles as the No. 6 prospect on my board. I think he’s the best defender in the draft, and his offensive game is coming along enough to be projectible as a quality role player at worse. The lefty needs to lose some weight to move from a college center to a pro forward and has to develop his right hand and his 3-point shot, but both his feet and feel are elite."
And during his appearance on The Zach Lowe Show, Hollinger's comments continued to reflect the same firm stance on Murray-Boyles that he has held previously.
Hollinger said (YouTube link here):
"Yeah, your defensive case [speaking to host Zach Lowe] is interesting because [Collin] Murray-Boyles can really guard. Like that's — that's the one thing with him I totally believe in. He's just 6'7" and played center in college and needs to move out to the perimeter. "John Hollinger, Oct 6, 2025
Despite his firm belief in CMB, Hollinger has never sugarcoated the offensive limitations of Murray-Boyles' game, and I commend that. This honesty is especially important because it was the primary red flag I and many of the other initial CMB doubters noted after his selection. Moving forward, CMB will need to adapt to playing more on the perimeter, as that is likely to be his long-term role. Although, the goal is not just for him to be a strong perimeter defender, which we already know he excels at, but also to develop as a three-point shooter.
Similar archetypes like Aaron Gordon and Draymond Green have shown that this is possible, and according to the previously mentioned training camp report by Michael Grange, that aspect of his game is progressing well, which is encouraging.