The New Orleans Pelicans have another member of their core locked in for the foreseeable future, this time with versatile wing shooter Trey Murphy III.
The Pelicans and Murphy have agreed to a 4-year, $112 million extension off his rookie deal that will keep him under team control through the 2027-'28 season, according to a report from ESPN's Shams Charania. The deal does not have any incentives or player options baked in.
The move makes a strong statement on what the team believes it has in Murphy, the No. 17 overall pick in the 2021 draft out of Virginia, considering he is currently dealing with a hamstring strain and is expected to miss the start of the upcoming season as he works back. Still, the growth and development has been clear for the 6-10 forward, who saw his most productive season yet in his third NBA campaign with career high averages of 14.8 points points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists on nearly 30 minutes per game.
New Orleans now has four core players in Murphy, newcomer Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones and superstar Zion WIlliamson locked into contracts spanning multiple seasons as the team tries to continue to push the needly upward in the Western Conference. The Pelicans will also see significant contributions from veterans CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram, along with last year's first-round pick Jordan Hawkins. The Pelicans also have an intriguing piece in Yves Miss, an athletic 7-foot center out of Baylor they picked at No. 21 in the most recent draft, and also veteran center Daniel Theis, though it's expected they will rely heavily on small lineups throughout the season.
The Pelicans face an important season from a trajectory perspective, having improved their win total from 36 to 42 to 49 in each of the three seasons under WIllie Green, though their playoff success has not seen the same uptick. Williamson has been out with injuries for the playoff run in each of those seasons. New Orleans took the top seeded Suns to six games in the 2021-'22 campaign, Murphy's rookie season, but has had their season ended by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the play-in tournament, then via a first round sweep in the last two seasons, respectively.
If the Pelicans can continue to see their win total tick up by a few games this year they'd likely find themselves much better positioned for a deep playoff run. A 52-win season would've been enough to land in the 4 seed a year ago in the hyper-competitive Western Conference, while a 49-win season forced the road to go through the play-in tournament and a No. 8 overall seed.
The Pelicans kick off their regular season on Wednesday, Oct. 23 against the Chicago Bulls at the Smoothie King Center. Catch all the action on WWL and Audacy!
