Raptors’ Collin Murray-Boyles named to NBA All-Rookie Second Team

Collin Murray-Boyles was selected by a panel of voters to the NBA’s All-Rookie Second Team on the night of Wednesday May 20. He was the final member selected to the team, collecting eight votes for the First Team and 50 votes for Second Team. He joins Derik Queen, Maxime Raynaud, Jeremiah Fears, and Ace Bailey on the Second Team.

Murray-Boyles averaged 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.9 blocks, and 0.9 steals per game. That’s actually pretty darn close to what I expected from his rookie season, although it’s a touch lower on the steals front. This is what I wrote before the season began:

Perhaps 10.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.7 (?) blocks per game. That feels modest enough, but when you plug it into Stathead, only one player last season equalled or surpassed those numbers, so we’ll see if I’m way off base. And all time only six rookies have ever done it. So, yeah, I’m definitely, certainly way off. Let’s keep it anyway.

And if we plug his numbers now back into Stathead, only 50 rookies have ever hit those numbers. So, not bad! Murray-Boyles proved that he will in many ways define the Raptors’ future.

Then came the playoffs. His per-game averages leaped, skyrocketed, exploded to 14.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks on improved efficiency, too. Three rookies, total, have managed to hit those thresholds in the playoffs. He was irrevocable.

One has to think that had the playoffs been part of the equation, Murray-Boyles would have had more buzz to join the First Team. Nevertheless, he’ll have the rest of his career to prove he is better than the rest of the rookies in his class.

As it is, Murray-Boyles proved that he is Toronto’s best rookie since Scottie Barnes, and will immediately be the second-most important piece on this team going forward after Barnes. The duo were fantastic, annihilating opponents together in their shared minutes, especially on the defensive end.

Murray-Boyles now has some hardware to celebrate his fantastic rookie season.