COLLIN Murray-Boyles

As a rookie last season, Murray-Boyles played 57 games and averaged 21.9 minutes. He put up 8.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists a night, with 0.9 steals and 0.9 blocks. The numbers that stand out are the shooting splits. He hit 57.9 percent from the field and posted a 62.1 true shooting percentage, strong marks for a player with a usage rate of 15.0. He took care of the ball too, averaging just 1.0 turnover. The weaker spots were the free throw line, where he shot 65.7 percent, and three-point range, where he made 34.0 percent. His plus-minus of 0.8 per game last season suggests the Raptors held their own when he was on the floor.

Murray-Boyles got real postseason minutes last season in a series against Cleveland. He opened the series on April 23 with 22 points and 8 rebounds in 28.2 minutes in a Raptors win, finishing a plus-21. On April 26 he added 15 points and 10 rebounds in another win. The series then got harder. He had 8 points and 5 rebounds in a loss on April 29, then played 39.9 minutes on May 1 and scored 17 points with 7 rebounds in a win. The series ended with a loss on May 3, where he had 8 points and 4 rebounds and finished a minus-19. Five playoff games with that kind of workload are valuable experience for a rookie heading into his second year.

Murray-Boyles played four preseason games this October and sat one. He opened on October 3 against Miami with 6 points and 9 rebounds in 20.1 minutes in a loss. On October 10 against the Clippers he had 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in a win. His best outing came October 13 against New York: 19 points and 9 rebounds in just 16.2 minutes, a plus-21 in a Raptors win. Two nights later, in a loss to the Knicks on October 15, he went for 12 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 21.6 minutes. He did not play on October 16 against Detroit, listed as day-to-day for rest, and was cleared the next day. In the four games he played, he averaged 9 rebounds or close to it on most nights while staying well under 22 minutes.

The injury file on Murray-Boyles is short. On September 6 he was listed day-to-day with a finger issue, and he was cleared on September 28 before the preseason schedule got going. In October the only entry was the October 16 rest day against Detroit, and he was cleared on October 17. That is it. He is not on the injury report now. For a 245-pound forward who plays a physical, inside-out style and grabbed 9 rebounds in three of his four preseason appearances, a clean health record coming into the season matters as much as any stat line.

The option pickup settles the contract question, so the focus turns to the floor. Murray-Boyles was a low-usage, high-efficiency player last season with a 15.0 usage rate and a 62.1 true shooting mark. The question for year two is whether his minutes and touches climb from the 21.9 per night he averaged as a rookie. The preseason numbers say the production is there even in short stints. The areas to track are the ones that lagged last season: 65.7 percent from the line and 34.0 percent from three. If those tick up, the Raptors have a very efficient forward on a controlled contract. The Lewenberg notes and the And-Ones roundup on October 9 about swing players and team needs show he is on the radar as Toronto sorts out its frontcourt and guard rotation.