The idea of Dejounte Murray in Toronto makes enough sense on paper to get your attention. The Raptors need help at point guard, Murray wants out of New Orleans, and ESPN senior NBA insider Shams Charania reported on X earlier today that Murray’s agent, Rich Paul, and Pelicans officials are working toward a resolution. With the rumor mill already spinning and the Suns mentioned as the leading suitor, it’s fair to ask whether the Raptors should even be in the conversation.
They should at least think about it. But thinking about it and doing it are two very different things.
Toronto’s point guard situation has been unsettled, with Immanuel Quickley’s play swinging up and down and Jamal Shead giving the team serviceable backup and occasional starter minutes despite obvious offensive lapses. On that level alone, Murray looks like a possible fix. He’s a true lead guard, and that’s a spot the Raptors have had trouble locking down.
There was a time when Murray would have been an easy sell. He used to look like one of the league’s most underrated guards, a player who did a little bit of everything, played with a nonstop motor, and bothered people defensively. His lone All-Star season came in 2021-22 with the Spurs, when he put up 21.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 9.2 assists, and 2.0 steals per game.
That breakout pushed Atlanta to make a big swing for him. The Hawks tried the Trae Young-Dejounte Murray backcourt, but it never really clicked, and Murray was eventually moved to the Pelicans, where he now wants out.
That’s where the conversation gets tricky for Toronto. If the Raptors were chasing the version of Murray from a few years ago, you could at least talk yourself into moving Immanuel Quickley or RJ Barrett in a deal, with Quickley seeming like the more likely piece to go. But the player Murray is now comes with a lot more baggage.
The biggest red flag is the torn Achilles he suffered in January 2025. Add that to the signs of decline already showing up in his game, and the picture changes fast. He no longer looks like the disruptive defensive force he once was, and his effort has been questioned as well.
Then there’s the shot. Murray has never been a reliable three-point threat, and that matters a lot for a Raptors team that already needs more dependable shooting.
Over nine seasons, he’s a 33.9 percent shooter from deep. His best mix of volume and efficiency came in Atlanta in 2023-24, when he hit 36.3 percent.
His 39.1 percent mark as a rookie in San Antonio is hard to weigh heavily because of the limited sample.
This season hasn’t done much to clear things up. In nine games with New Orleans, Murray is averaging 13.4 points on 43.1 percent shooting, with 29.6 percent from three, plus 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists, and 1.6 steals. Those numbers are fine, but they don’t scream difference-maker for a Toronto team trying to solve a real problem at the position.
He may be a better pure point guard than Quickley. That’s fair. But Quickley’s streaky shooting still offers something Murray doesn’t, and that matters when the Raptors are already searching for offense from the perimeter.
That’s why a Murray pursuit feels more like a desperate swing than a clean solution. It could be another move for a player who looks like the right kind of name, only to end up making the same issues more obvious.
There’s also the memory of last season’s heated confrontation with Jamal Shead and Immanuel Quickley, which made Murray public enemy number one in Raptors Nation. That kind of baggage doesn’t disappear just because a player becomes available.
Even with a possible Kawhi Leonard connection from their time in San Antonio, Toronto would still be taking on a difficult bet. In a perfect world, Murray might look like the kind of move that changes everything. In the real one, he looks more like another player the Raptors would have to wait on to become what they need.
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