The Pelicans caught plenty of heat this summer for standing pat, but their decision to keep Trey Murphy III may end up looking like the right call.
New Orleans entered the offseason under pressure after winning just 26 games last season. A new coaching staff arrived, led by former Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley, and plenty of people expected the roster to get torn apart. Instead, the Pelicans mostly kept things as they were, and that led to the usual frustration from fans who wanted a bigger shakeup.
Joe Dumars said the team did try to improve the roster, but nothing that came across the table made New Orleans meaningfully better.
Murphy was the biggest name tied to trade buzz all summer. Yahoo Sports NBA writer Kevin O’Connor reported that the Pelicans’ asking price for the 26-year-old was at least three first-round picks. The Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and other teams were reportedly in the mix, but no deal happened.
That hesitation makes sense when you look at what Murphy means to this team. New Orleans drafted the North Carolina native in the first round of the 2021 NBA Draft, and he has steadily grown into a more complete player every year. His scoring has climbed each season, and the rest of his game has come along with it.
Even in a rough year for the Pelicans, Murphy produced like one of the few players who could be proud of his season. He posted career highs in points, rebounds, assists and steals, and he started 66 games, also a career best.
The shooting piece matters just as much. Murphy was one of the team’s only real three-point threats last season, and moving him for future picks would have made an already thin perimeter-shooting situation even worse. New Orleans finished in the bottom five in three-point attempts, makes and percentage.
Keeping him on the floor gives defenses something real to worry about.
It also lines up with where this roster is headed. The Pelicans are one of the youngest teams in the league, and Murphy, now 26 and heading into his sixth season in New Orleans, fits alongside the growth of Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears.
Both rookies earned All-NBA Rookie Second Team honors, but both still need work, and neither is a dependable outside shooter. They both want to attack the basket, which makes Murphy’s spacing even more valuable.
His impact isn’t limited to offense, either. Murphy has turned into a true 3&D weapon, and his 6-foot-9 frame gives New Orleans a long, athletic defender who can be used in a lot of different ways.
Last season, he was seen as one of the league’s more versatile defenders, logging time against all five positions. He also finished with a career-high 1.5 steals and a +2.2 net rating while on the court.
The Pelicans may not have the luxury of endless patience, but trading Murphy just to make a move would have been the wrong kind of urgency. By holding onto him, New Orleans avoided making its short-term problems worse and kept control of its own timeline.
In Other News...
Pelicans Face A Brutal Reality Heading Into This Season
The Pelicans head into the new season with a familiar mix of continuity and uncertainty, having made only limited roster changes because of contract constraints while keeping most of the core in place. The biggest shift came on the sideline, where Jamahl Mosley replaces James Borrego, and the hope inside the organization is that a new voice and a little natural growth from younger players can help move the group forward.
Still, the outside forecast is not encouraging. ESPNs NBA Insiders project New Orleans to land at No. 14 in the West with a 25-57 record, which would be a step backward from last season and a sign that a quick turnaround is unlikely. Much of the optimism now rests on players like Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen taking a meaningful leap, because without that kind of rise, the Pelicans look destined to spend another season trying to prove the league wrong. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Still Have The Same Frontcourt Problem Fans Feared
The Pelicans have largely chosen continuity heading into the new season, keeping most of the roster together while bringing back DeAndre Jordan and moving on from Kevon Looneys option. For a team that spent much of last season trying to stabilize its front line, that leaves New Orleans still searching for the kind of starting-caliber two-way center it has not consistently had.
Joe Dumars made clear the front office explored ways to improve the roster, but nothing materialized that felt like a real upgrade. That leaves the same frontcourt concern hanging over the Pelicans, especially on the defensive end where the issues were evident a year ago, and it is the kind of unanswered question that could shape how far this group can go. [Read more 🡒]
Herb Jones Is Becoming The Kind Of Pelicans Piece Rivals Target
The Nuggets are already acting like a team trying to squeeze every last bit out of the Nikola Jokic window, and their latest roster discussion shows how aggressively they may keep tweaking the edges. After adding DeMar DeRozan on a reported one-year deal, Denver is also weighing whether to move Christian Braun in a bigger swing aimed at bringing in Herb Jones, the kind of defensive specialist who can change the tone of a playoff series without needing the ball in his hands.
For the Pelicans, that kind of buzz is its own compliment. Jones has built the sort of reputation that makes rivals start asking uncomfortable questions about how much a lockdown defender is worth, especially when the conversation includes a young, useful piece like Braun on the other side. No deal is official, but the fact that Jones is already surfacing in those talks says plenty about how teams around the league view him and how New Orleans roster has become part of the trade markets heavier conversations. [Read more 🡒]