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Jamal Murray gets own logo; Wants to be No. 1 pick in NBA Draft

Can Jamal Murray climb into the top two picks of the NBA draft?

By Jason Marcum
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Jamal Murray isn't in the NBA yet, but he's already acting like a pro.

During a Thursday appearance on Kentucky Sports Radio, Murray revealed his own personalized logo:

It's an interesting way of using his 'JM' initials without separating the letters, and it also includes an arrow going through it. That comes from Murray's signature 'shooting the arrow' celebration he began doing after made three-pointers late in this past season.

But Murray has more on his mind than fancy logos and arrows. He wants to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft,

"I want to be the No. 1 pick," Murray told KSR. "I’m not even thinking about them. I’m a big competitor. I want to win in every type of way. Even with my dad, we’ll be walking and I’ll say ‘I’ll beat you to the door’ for no reason."

You have to admire Murray's confidence, which UK fans saw plenty of this past season as he seemingly could hit from anywhere in the gym.

But it's hard to see him overtaking LSU's Ben Simmons and Duke's Brandon Ingram for the top pick. I could see a team talking themselves into Murray over one of those two guys, but not both.

That said, there's still two months before the NBA Draft begins. Between now and then is the NBA Draft Combine, private meetings and workouts with teams, background checks and other things that if Murray can excel at, maybe his stock jumps high enough that he climbs into that top-two conversation.

Another thing Murray has going for him is he's more of wing/guard combination and could play either spot in the NBA. Ingram is more of a true wing who's too small (196 lbs.) to play power forward, but not quick and agile enough to play guard. Murray's ability to play multiple spots more effectively could help him get an edge over Ingram is a guard-needy team ends up with the No. 2 pick.

In the end, I do think Murray does well in all of the pre-draft meetings and workouts, but ultimately goes in that 3-5 range come draft time.

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