Murray is playing better. Full stop. That's clearly the case. His shot is better, he has more confidence in getting to his spots, but he's not quite as wild as he used to be.
But I also don't know that he's being challenged defensively. Like Murray's handles aren't very good, but if no one is pressuring him, they are good enough for him to not dribble off his feet. His midrange consistency is really nice, and it's critical if he's to be a high-option player. But I still feel like it was a poor developmental choice to have him focus on those shots rather than threes and put-backs. Murray being able to get his own shot is nice, but him being able to play with other higher-option guys seemed more important, especially since the Spurs actively choose to bring in DeRozan rather than move Murray up. Yes, Murray's three has been better as of late, but he still doesn't seem comfortable shooting if it's not wide open. It was a really weird choice by Pop to go into this season with so many midrange shooters then try to choice two "designated floor-spacers" into the rotation to make up for it. Back a couple of months ago, I said that DJM, DMDR and LMA needed to start taking threes even if their percentages weren't good. We're seeing that with DJM and LMA, but DeRozan is still holding the team back in that regard.
I hope Murray remains a productive player. It's not realistic to expect him to average 20ppg without more improvement to his game, but he can play within himself and pick his spots and still get mid-teens points every night on decent efficiency. I think he'll have more games where he'll struggle though because mid-range shooting is rarely consistent, and he's getting a huge percentage of his points there. I feels like an unsustainable source of points, and he'll need to work in more efficient sources to secure his numbers.