Heading into the 2025-26 season, the New Orleans Pelicans front office and fans are expecting a big season from 24-year-old wing Trey Murphy III. The 4-year pro is entering his fifth year in the NBA and is coming off a breakout campaign last season. Trey averaged 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.5 assists per game in his 53 appearances for the Pelicans.
With Brandon Ingram no longer on the team, many fans expect Murphy's offensive production to jump up even more as he no longer will be sharing the court with a player demanding the same shots as he does. With this newfound opening, many fans feel like the next step for him is to join the club of players averaging 25 points per game. Even though many fans wanna see his scoring numbers jump, I personally think it'll be his assists per game that we see a big jump in.
Despite being a natural scorer who can get his own from anywhere on the court, with an expanded role comes more attention. Murphy is likely to be outside of Zion Williamson, the guy who gets the most touches, and with that comes more challenges, defensive challenges to overcome. He'll likely be priority two behind Williamson's on teams' scouting reports, and that's why I think his playmaking is going to take a next step.
We know Trey can score but can he create for others
One of the things that stood out to me about Murphy last season was how calm he was when creating for others. Since the Pelicans had so many injuries, there was so much attention on him all the time, sometimes meaning his only option was to get someone else an open look. While some fans may look at making the extra pass as something every player should be able to do that should take away from Murphy. Making the extra pass or right read is the first step to becoming a good playmaker, and is a step he has already made.
Back to Brandon Ingram, who, during his 6 years in New Orleans, averaged 5.2 assists per game. With Ingram getting hurt and then being traded to Toronto, fans knew someone had to step up as a playmaking wing, and that person was Murphy.
We saw during BI's time with the Pelicans how valuable it was to have a wing that could initiate the offense and set up others. That's why I think Murphy taking that next step as a playmaker is more likely and more valuable to the Pelicans than his scoring stats jumping up.
The modern NBA is all about versatility and finding guys who can do everything, and if he takes that step as a passer, Murphy will legitimately be a do-it-all player. If his averages stay at 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, but his assists jump up to 5.5 per game, I think that puts him near the top 6 small forwards in the league.