The New Orleans Pelicans have a floor spacing problem. Plain and simple, not going to sugarcoat it: this team seriously lacks three-point shooters, and it’s impacting no one harder than Trey Murphy III. In a better-spaced offense, Murphy III could realistically push into the 23-26 points per game range, but in New Orleans the chances of him reaching that ceiling are very slim. In any scenario, players like Murphy III, who are elite shooters with great length and plus athleticism, are going to bring value.
And I’m not saying he doesn’t with the Pelicans, but having Murphy III be the only real source of reliable perimeter scoring has hurt him immensely.
Obviously, all the blame for why Murphy III didn’t hit a new level last season can’t be placed on the front office or the way they constructed the roster. However, a very high percentage of why he didn’t break out into the All-Star player people around the league thought he could be was because defense didn’t have to worry about anyone else off the ball.
The Pelicans are holding back Murphy III's break out
This past season Murphy III averaged 21.5 points per game; that's still a great figure, but it’s only a 0.3 increase from the year prior. You can make the argument that this is Murphy III’s ceiling and that last season was an example of why, because if he was capable of making a jump, he would’ve made one. But I’d disagree. Every time teams would play the Pelicans, their scouting report all had the same note: Murphy III is their only threat from three, so don’t leave him alone.
If you go back and watch the tape, any ball handler would slash and attack the whole defense would collapse except for whoever was guarding Murphy III. This is reflected in the NBA’s tracking, too, as only 24 percent of his threes attempted last season were deemed wide open by the league.
New Orleans made the fourth-fewest threes in the NBA last season, and Murphy III isn’t going to be able to overly boost that because the front office didn’t add any snipers.
Sure, they brought in Bennedict Mathurin on a great contract, but he’s way more of a scorer and slasher than a shooter. Mathurin shot 31.5 percent from three last season, which doesn’t move the needle. Yeah, Saddiq Bey had a strong 2025-26 and shot 36.7 percent from deep on 5.7 attempts per game, but for his career he’s only a 35.5 percent three-point shooter.
Most fans would agree that, aside from Zion Williamson, Murphy III is by far the team's most important player. So, for the Pelicans to go through another summer neglecting shooting, they are putting a major cap not only on Murphy III but also on this team as a whole. Because with more spacing, Murphy III would see more open looks and maybe hit that All-Star potential many fans see in him when they tune into Pelicans games.
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