QUEBEC CITY – The answer seemed easy and obvious to Collin Murray-Boyles.
Why has the Raptors’ talented young forward been so committed to using his time off to redefine himself? Well, if not then, when is he supposed to do it?
“It’s hard to do it in season,” Murray-Boyles told TSN after the team’s morning workout on Friday, the end of a long week of training camp in Quebec City. “You don’t have the free time to apply yourself in that way. You’ve got to get your rest, you’ve got to take naps, you’ve got to watch film. There’s too much to manage.”
But just because the summer is an obvious opportunity to tinker with your game or transform your body, doesn’t mean there’s anything easy about the way Murray-Boyles has gone about doing it. It’s hard, monotonous work that takes a level of dedication and discipline most 21-year-olds don’t have, that few people of any age have.
The fruits of his labour were hard to miss early in camp.
“I do see the change in his body,” said Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic. “He’s [leaner], he’s a little bit more explosive, and he’s doing a great job.”
“He’s a lean, mean fighting machine,” general manager Bobby Webster said last week.
How did he do it? Murray-Boyles has taken up distance running.
At first, it was a means to an end, something that he would do to take a break from video gaming and get some exercise before his basketball workouts, but he took a liking to it. He enjoyed getting outside, being around nature, and seeing different cities on the road, while also getting his cardio in. So, to start just about every day over the offseason, Murray-Boyles would throw on a playlist – he has an eclectic taste in music and the genre would vary depending on his mood – and go for a run.
He would be out there for anywhere between 20 minutes to an hour and aim to run three to six miles per day, tracking his progress over his phone. He’s hoping to maintain the hobby during the season, though his sessions will be limited to Saturday or Sunday mornings rather than daily.
In keeping with his more active lifestyle, Murray-Boyles also made some changes to his diet, eating lighter, healthier meals and focusing on moderation. He politely declined to say how much weight he’s lost since coming into the league at 245 pounds but called it a “substantial amount.”
“I can feel it,” he said. “I feel lighter, more airy.”
“CMB is extremely dedicated,” said Rajakovic. “He takes this profession very, very seriously. He loves the game so much. So, I can’t say that he’s making any sacrifices because anything that’s going to help his game and help his team, he’s not seeing that as a sacrifice. He sees that as the price that needs to be paid and he’s doing that willingly and easily.”
This isn’t the first time that he’s reshaped his body. As a high school senior at Wasatch, Murray-Boyles was, as his long-time trainer Khadijah Sessions told TSN last year, “heavyset.” According to his coaches, the South Carolina native approached the summer between high school and college as if he was preparing for the NBA. He hit the weight room and went on an all-fruit diet for a period. Murray-Boyles says he went from 245 pounds to 225 in the span of a few months.
“That really changed me into who I am today – the high-energy guy, defensive [minded player],” he said, crediting his coach at Wasatch, Paul Peterson, for instilling that discipline in him. “Just seeing how that affected me and how positive that was for me, there’s no reason for me not to keep the cycle going.”
And he has. Each summer since, Murray-Boyles has gone into the lab and come out of it looking like a different player, and in some cases, a different person. After putting together an All-Rookie Second Team campaign and capping it off with a strong showing in his first playoff series, what is he going to come back with?
Year 2 can be tricky, especially for players that hit the ground running, as Murray-Boyles did. Expectations are higher and you’re a little further up on opposing scouting reports. Development isn’t always linear. Consider Scottie Barnes, who won Rookie of the Year, took a small step back as a sophomore, then made his first All-Star team in Year 3.
For what it’s worth, the Raptors aren’t stressing the sophomore slump. They’re confident that CMB can avoid it, or better yet, smash his way through it. Even at 20 years of age, the rookie wasn’t fazed by his first taste of playoff basketball, averaging 14.4 points, 6.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.1 blocks on 66 per cent shooting in the seven-game series against Cleveland.
But with his role and skill set, growth won’t be measured by point production or in counting stats. To take a meaningful step forward this season, he just needs to do what he’s been doing: impacting games with his hard play and defensive effort, while continuing to make strides on the offensive end of the floor.
He understands the assignment. Adaptability is such a big part of Murray-Boyles’ game. He can already guard one-though-five; it’s that versatility that makes him one of the league’s most intriguing defensive prospects. With his improved conditioning, the hope is that he can do more of it for longer stretches over the course of a full season – he missed 25 games last season and still played in more than he did during his entire two-year college career at South Carolina.
The next evolution is to extend his range beyond the three-point line, something that he also prioritized in his offseason training. He only attempted 50 threes as a rookie, hitting 34 per cent of them, so getting reps up and building confidence in his shot has been a focus. It’s a work in progress, but merely proving to be a willing and capable spot-up shooter could go a long way in raising his already lofty ceiling.
“I think the sky is the limit for him, to be honest with you,” Rajakovic said. “There are so many intangibles that he brings to the table, to our team that we love in his game.”
Murray-Boyles knows there are no shortcuts to becoming the player he wants to be. He’s making the sacrifices, even if he won’t call them that. He’s put in the miles, day after day. Now, as he tries to follow up his debut campaign with an even better second season, we’ll find out how far they can take him.
