Tuomas Iisalo Praises Kris Murray Despite Empty Stat Line in Grizzlies Win

Kris Murray moved into the Memphis Grizzlies starting lineup Friday night, taking the place of Jaylen Wells, who had started each of the first three preseason games.

Memphis beat the Charlotte Hornets 117-98 at FedExForum to finish the exhibition schedule 3-1. Brandon Miller scored 15 points for Charlotte.

Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said this roster has good role definition right now, with players who want to star in their roles, in postgame comments posted by Grind City Media.

"We wanted to see him also there together with the starters," Iisalo said. "We've had him with some of the bench units, and this game presented a good opportunity with that, with Brandon Miller being one of the best scoring wings in the whole league. I thought he did a tremendous job with what we say, arriving with the ball, not fouling, and being there on every catch, closing out, closing the — and really made his life difficult."

"And I feel like we have several of these guys who can apply a ton of friction," Iisalo continued. "We know that Jaylen is very capable of it. Kris is a little bit bigger version, matches up really well with the threes and the fours in the league. Then we got Scotty in the backcourt, who can just create a ton of disruption."

Miller averaged 20.2 points for the Hornets last season. Hornets coach Charles Lee said this week that Miller is central to how fast Charlotte plays.

Murray started alongside Ty Jerome, Cedric Coward, Cameron Boozer, and Zach Edey. Wells came off the bench.

Portland took Murray 23rd overall in 2023 out of Iowa. The 6-foot-8 forward spent three seasons there, and last season he averaged 5.8 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 23.4 minutes.

He matched his season high with 16 points, adding 5 rebounds and 5 assists, in a March 23 win over Brooklyn.

In early March, he was starting in place of Deni Avdija, who was dealing with a back injury.

Memphis acquired Murray and Jerami Grant from Portland on June 29 in the trade that sent Ja Morant the other way. Grant scored 10 points off the bench in the Oct. 5 preseason opener in Atlanta.

Wells made the All-Rookie First Team in 2025 with Edey. Boozer, the third overall pick in June, said Friday that most of his preseason assignments have been forwards who play like guards.

Scotty Pippen Jr. returned this fall after surgeries on both big toes, the second in March.

The Grizzlies have enough depth on their bench to give opponents different looks, Iisalo said.

"We also want to maintain that optionality of having different type of lineups for different type of nights, and having both defensively and offensively be coherent," Iisalo explained. "So [I] thought he did a great job in that role."

"I was just looking at his stat line, which is like zero, zero, zero, zero, zero, and two defensive rebounds and one steal and one block, and I thought he did a great job," Iisalo continued. "[...] So sometimes the stats don't show the whole truth, but it was very interesting to see him in that role."

Charlotte turned the ball over 24 times and shot 31-of-75 from the field. Memphis had 14 steals.

The Hornets made 10 of their 33 3-point attempts and 26 of 30 free throws. Hannes Steinbach, the 14th pick in June, led them with 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. Christian Anderson also scored 15, and Naz Reid added 12.

Murray's twin brother, Keegan, plays for Sacramento. Both played at Iowa, where their father, Kenyon, played from 1992 to 1996.

The Grizzlies open the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 21, against the Utah Jazz at 7 p.m. CT.

The second stop on the four-game road trip that follows is Sacramento, on Oct. 25.