The New Orleans Pelicans are a team in disarray. After a horrid start to the 2024-25 NBA season marred by significant injuries to their entire core, the organization has settled on a new direction for their franchise: a complete teardown and reboot of their roster.
The team has reportedly made nearly all of their players available for trade outside of a few designated young prospects that they wish to keep around for the future: Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, rookie phenom Yves Missi, and second-year guard Jordan Hawkins, the last of which is a new inclusion to their list of untouchables.
There's a marked difference between a player being available in trade talks versus a team actively shopping their athletes though. While New Orleans is listening to offers for the majority of their roster, only a few players are being actively marketed to other teams, namely Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum. The Athletic's Jovan Buha, who originally reported that Zion, BI, and CJ were being shopped by the Pels, made a notable distinction that the team was not looking to move Dejounte Murray, which is the right move at this current juncture.
The Pelicans should not be looking to trade Dejounte Murray this season
Dejounte Murray has played for three different teams in the past three seasons. Two years ago, he was still suiting up for the San Antonio Spurs, his home from the inception of his NBA career. Then, the Atlanta Hawks acquired him in a blockbuster trade that saw them send the Spurs Danilo Gallinari, three first-round picks, and a potential first-round pick swap in 2026 in exchange for DJM and Jock Landale.
Things didn't work out in Atlanta as they envisioned, as the Hawks with their new star backcourt consisting of Trae Young alongside Murray barely made the Play-In Tournament and were promptly eliminated from the postseason without making the playoffs. Dejounte had a bit of a disappointing season in Atlanta, especially on the defensive end of the court, and his trade stock tanked as a result.
That following summer, the Pelicans were able to trade for him in return for Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddell, Cody Zeller, Larry Nance Jr., and two first-round selections, a significantly lesser package compared to what the Hawks had to give up to acquire him in the first place.
Before he could even get started, it appeared that Dejounte's time in the Big Easy would be coming to an end. In his very first game for the Pels, Murray fractured his left hand and would go on to miss several weeks, forced to watch New Orleans slide to the bottom of the Western Conference standings from the sidelines. Now, with the team looking to rebuild, Murray's — a 28-year-old borderline All-Star — future is up in the air once again.
It's only natural that the team would be looking to move on from him considering that he wouldn't fit the Pelicans' new timeline after their teardown. However, that doesn't mean that they need to trade him this season.
So far, Murray's having his worst season since 2020-21. Over a third of the way into the year, he's averaging just 16.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 7.6 assists on just 36 percent shooting from the field and 27 percent marks from deep in 13 games played.
The hope is that his efficiency has been significantly impacted by his injury and the subsequent rehabilitation and that he'll return to form over time. With just a few weeks until the trade deadline, it would be a tall ask to expect him to regain his All-Star numbers by then. Essentially, Dejounte Murray's trade stock could be at an all-time low right now.
Rather than move him for the sake of making a deal in return for pennies on the dollar, the Pelicans should exercise patience in this case. He'll still have two years left on his contract and an additional player option after this season. New Orleans has plenty of time to find a suitable return for him.
Keeping him around could slightly worsen their chances at a top draft pick this summer, but it doesn't seem like the Pelicans need to worry about that too much considering their current standing and his performance so far. Plus, keeping around an experienced, talented two-way point guard could aid the developments of Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, Yves Missi, Jordan Hawkins, and any other young players the Pelicans will look to build around.