Dejounte Murray came into this year’s Pelicans Media Day with a very different energy than he had a season ago. Last time around, he was still working his way back from a torn Achilles and trying to figure out when he’d actually get back on the floor. This time, the New Orleans guard sounds like a player who believes the hard part is behind him and the real work is about to begin.
Murray said Monday that getting back last season mattered because he wanted to show himself, and everyone else, what he can still do. After a full offseason of health and preparation, he and the Pelicans are looking at this year as a fresh start.
"What I can say after my first day when I left the gym... I left very excited... texting and telling my brothers and just my family like now it feels like a place to be... Most importantly, I was excited to go back,” the Seattle native said about his return to the team this summer.
The difference Murray can make goes well beyond mood and confidence. New Orleans felt his absence sharply last season, especially after the team traded backup point guard Jose Alvarado to the New York Knicks.
Without a real lead guard to organize things, the offense had trouble consistently getting into its sets. That burden shifted to Jordan Poole, who struggled all year with his shooting and decision-making.
Even rookie Jeremiah Fears said at one point that he had hit the rookie wall, leaving the Pelicans short on reliable options to keep the offense on track.
Murray changes that equation immediately. He gives New Orleans a pick-and-roll creator who can open things up for rim runners like Yves Missi and Karlo Matkovic.
He also brings something the roster has lacked: a steady voice. With Naji Marshall, Alvarado, and CJ McCollum no longer on the team, the Pelicans have lost a chunk of their veteran presence.
Murray is the second-oldest player on the roster, behind only DeAndre Jordan, and with just those two in their 30s, his accountability matters on one of the youngest teams in the league.
That leadership is part of the package, but the Pelicans are counting on Murray for much more than that. When healthy, the 6-foot-4 guard has been one of the league’s more versatile backcourt players. He’s earned All-NBA Defensive Team honors, led the NBA in steals in 2022, and averaged more than 20 points per game in three of his last five seasons.
New Orleans made that bet on him when it sent Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddell, Larry Nance Jr., and two first-round picks to San Antonio.
The idea was clear: pair a polished playmaker with Brandon Ingram, McCollum, and Zion Williamson. That group never made it through a single regular-season game together, though, as injuries and trades kept blowing up the plan during a miserable 21-win season.
Murray’s return late last year offered a small glimpse of what he can do. After missing more than a year, the former first-round pick played 14 games and averaged 16.7 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.4 rebounds. The sample was tiny, but it still backed up the case for why New Orleans wanted him in the first place.
The numbers looked even better with him on the court. Per Databallr, the Pelicans posted a +4.4 net rating with Murray playing and a -5.8 mark when he sat. Even with the team far out of playoff contention, he still made it a priority to suit up.
Now the challenge is bigger. Murray has to fit his game alongside Williamson, Trey Murphy III, and last season’s rookie duo of Derik Queen and Fears if New Orleans is going to get itself moving in the right direction.
He knows there’s plenty to prove, both for himself and for the Pelicans as a whole. That process starts with winning.
Oct. 21 is the first chance to show it.
In Other News...
Pelicans Fans Just Got More Ways To Watch This Season
Pelicans fans will have a few more familiar voices and a few more viewing options when the season tips off. New Orleans announced its broadcast team for the upcoming year, keeping Joel Meyers and Antonio Daniels on the call, with Andrew Lopez back as sideline reporter and Kelly Crull and Kalia Butler joining the crew. On the radio side, WWL will again carry the games with Todd Graffagnini and John DeShazier.
The bigger change is on the distribution front, where the Pelicans will lean on the Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network as the main home for telecasts, with some games also set to air on FOX 8 and stream on Pelicans+ and Amazon Prime. For a fan base that has had to track down games across different platforms before, the range of options should make the season a little easier to follow, even as the full setup settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Zion Is Giving Pelicans Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Zion Williamson is giving Pelicans fans a familiar kind of offseason optimism, only this time theres a little more reason to take it seriously. Entering his seventh NBA season in New Orleans, he reportedly came into training camp at 271 pounds, lighter than the 284 pounds he has usually been listed at, and his trainer, Chris Chrisp, has been putting clips of his offseason work on display to back up the buzz.
The health piece still hangs over everything with Williamson, but last season offered the clearest sign yet of what the Pelicans can look like when he stays on the floor. He played a career-high 62 games, and if the improved conditioning translates into another durable year, New Orleans suddenly has a centerpiece who can change the mood around the franchise in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Still Have One Roster Problem That Could Sink Their Playoff Push
The Pelicans enter the season with the kind of top-end talent that can make the West interesting, and Jamahl Mosley arrives with a fresh voice on the sideline. But the fit still looks fragile. Trey Murphy III is one of the best spacing pieces on the roster, Zion Williamson changes how defenses load up, and the whole group has to find a cleaner way to blend scoring with structure if it wants to look like more than a collection of parts.
The bigger concern is that New Orleans still has obvious holes on both ends, especially with shooting and defense. The front office has made it clear more roster movement is expected, which only adds to the sense that the current mix is not quite finished. For a team trying to turn talent into a real playoff push, solving the balance issue may matter as much as any individual breakout. [Read more 🡒]