Jamal Murray was drafted by the Denver Nuggets with the seventh pick in the NBA Draft at Brooklyn's Barclay Center on Thursday, as the Kitchener native became the seventh Canadian to be taken with a lottery pick since 2011.

A six-foot-five guard, Murray is headed to the pros after a sensational freshman season at the University of Kentucky where he averaged 20.0 points to set the school freshman scoring record, and hit at least one three-pointer in all 36 games, a first in program history. He was named second-team All-American by USA Today and Scout, earned freshman All-America selection from the Sporting News and the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, and appeared on the All-SEC First Team.

Murray averaged 16.0 points per game at the Toronto Pan Am Games last summer, when he scored 22 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime of a stunning semi-final triumph over the USA. He has also represented Canada at the 2013 U16 FIBA Americas Championships and 2014 U17 FIBA World Championships.

The 19-year-old Murray joins Trey Lyles (12th, Utah, 2015), Andrew Wiggins (1st, Cleveland, 2014), Nik Stauskus (8th, Sacramento, 2014), Anthony Bennett (1st, Cleveland, 2013), Kelly Olynyk (13th, Dallas, 2013) and Tristan Thompson (4th, Cleveland, 2011) as recent lottery picks from Canada. He is also the 15th Canadian drafted into the NBA since 2010 and tenth to be taken in the first round.

The Denver Nuggets, who are coached by Michael Malone, finished with a 33-49 record in the 2015-16 NBA season. They have many young up-and-coming players and an international flavour to their roster, which already includes players from Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, Italy, and Serbia.

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