 Murphy spent the 1988–89 season playing in Spain for BBV Collado Villalba.He played in all 36 games for the team, averaging 18.6 points and 9.5 rebounds in 37.1 minutes per game.During the summer of 1989, the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were one of two new expansion teams for the 1989–90 NBA season invited Murphy to a free agent camp and a rookie camp in June and July respectively.