Is Kris Murray related to Keegan Murray? Relationship between the two explored

With the No. 23 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers selected Iowa forward Kris Murray. Upon the selection, many noticed Murray’s striking resemblance to Sacramento Kings forward Keegan Murray. This comes as no surprise as the two are identical twin brothers.

Keegan and Kris Murray are from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. They are the sons of Kenyon and Michelle Murray and the siblings of McKenna and Demetrius Murray.

The brothers attended Prairie High School in Iowa where they were standout players. They then enrolled at the DME Academy in Daytona Beach, Florida for a postgraduate year.

After that, the brothers committed to the University of Iowa starting in the 2020-21 season. This is the school where their father, Kenyon, played college basketball from 1992 to 1996. Kenyon was also named Michigan’s high school Mr. Basketball in 1992.

Keegan and Kris played two seasons together for the Hawkeyes from 2020 to 2022. Keegan was then drafted No. 4 in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. Meanwhile, Kris stayed at Iowa for his third year of college this past season before entering this year’s draft.

During their two seasons together at Iowa, the brothers led the Hawkeyes to the 2022 Big Ten men's basketball tournament championship.

As for their playstyle, Keegan and Kris are both 6-foot-8, 215-pound two-way forwards who can space the floor and score off the ball. However, Keegan was the more polished prospect coming out of college, hence why he was a Top 4 pick.

During his rookie season with Sacramento, Keegan Murray thrived as a floor-spacing forward in the Kings’ No. 1 ranked offense (118.6 offensive rating).

Keegan set the record for most 3-pointers made by a rookie at 206, breaking the previous record set by Donovan Mitchell (187). He was then selected as a member of the All-Rookie First Team.

Kris Murray on being drafted by Portland

Portland Trail Blazers forward Kris Murray

After being selected No. 23 by the Portland Trail Blazers in this year's draft, Kris Murray spoke about how it was to get drafted one year after his brother:

“It was special,” Murray said.

“Pretty unique, because last year we were in New York and then this year being able to spend it with my family was really cool. This moment was really cool.”

Murray then spoke about how excited he is to join the Blazers:

"I just got off the phone, they are excited to have me,” Murray said.

“They said they were running through the halls when they picked me. I am excited to meet everyone and get to Portland. I think it will be a really good situation for me.

“It’s definitely an emotional process. You sacrifice a lot during the pre-draft process being away from home. Now I am more excited than everything, looking forward to getting over there and getting started.”

Kris Murray joins a Trail Blazers team that is in the process of retooling around superstar point guard Damian Lillard. In addition to Murray, the team drafted G League Ignite point guard Scoot Henderson at No. 3 and French wing, Rayan Rupert, at No. 43 on Thursday night.

Portland is now expected to make additional moves in free agency to fortify its roster after coming off a disappointing 33-49 record, finishing 13th in the Western Conference.

At the very least, Kris Murray should provide the Trail Blazers with extra spacing and scoring in their frontcourt. Murray averaged 20.2 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.2 blocks and 2.3 3-pointers per game on 47.6% shooting over 29 games at Iowa.