CJ McCollum Gives Double Praise to Spurs' Dejounte Murray

It's safe to say Dejounte Murray has earned a lot of respect from his peers in the league. In the wake of his selection to represent the San Antonio Spurs in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game, he was front and center in a lot of conversations as a snub and likely injury replacement.

While he was eventually selected to replace Draymond Green in the game, he was receiving praise from multiple players before the choice was made. One such instance of that happened on CJ McCollum's podcast, Pull Up with CJ McCollum, on Friday.

Reviewing the NBA All-Star selections to give his thoughts, the recently-traded guard speculated who might be getting the nod as a replacement selection. In it, he offered lots of praise for the 25-year-old point guard.

"It's definitely a feel-good story," said McCollum. "It allows the San Antonio Spurs to be represented at All-Star weekend -- which is great for the NBA, great for their market, and great for their fanbase. It would be well-deserved because his game has continued to evolve. He's averaging nearly a triple-double, become efficient. His jump shot is much improved and he's shown great tenacity at the defensive end."

At the time of his selection, Murray is averaging 19.6 points, 9.2 assists, 8.4 rebounds, and a league-leading 2.1 steals per game. After praising his evolution and making his case for the All-Star Game, McCollum went a step further, making a prediction for the next honor awaiting Dejounte.

"He'll probably be First Team All-Defense again this year," concluded McCollum. Murray hasn't actually quite made the NBA All-Defensive First Team yet, but he did make the Second Team in his sophomore season, 2017-18. He was the youngest player ever to do so at the time.