Pelicans to explore Dejounte Murray trade after guard’s camp requests a move

The New Orleans Pelicans will try to trade Dejounte Murray after the guard’s representatives at Klutch Sports asked for a move, the team said on Friday 13 November. It points towards the end of a costly experiment for a franchise that gave up a great deal to get him and has seen little return.

"Today, Dejounte Murray’s representatives informed us of his request to be traded," the Pelicans said in a statement carried by NBA.com and the Associated Press. "We will evaluate potential trade opportunities that are in the best interest of our organization."

Murray was ruled out of the game against the Memphis Grizzlies on the same day with a left ankle sprain. Coach Jamahl Mosley said the guard was not at the Smoothie King Center.

"He’s not in the building, from what I’ve been told," Mosley said.

How it reached this point

ESPN reported on Friday 13 November that Murray’s agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, and Pelicans officials had started working toward a resolution. According to ESPN, Murray had made clear to the organisation that he was ready to play a key role in meaningful basketball elsewhere.

Shams Charania, as quoted by Yahoo Sports, put it this way: "In the last several days, I'm told, Murray has met with the organization, has made it clear to them that he wants to go somewhere else and play a meaningful, key role on another team."

The timing is hard to separate from the results. ESPN had the Pelicans at 4-8 to start the 2026-27 season and on a four-game losing streak, which included a 145-111 home defeat by the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday 11 November. NBC Sports noted that the request followed that 34-point loss and a 51-point loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday 9 November.

A trade that never paid off

New Orleans acquired Murray from Atlanta in June 2024, sending out two first-round picks, Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and E.J. Liddell. He arrived off a 2023-24 season in which he averaged 22.5 points, 6.4 assists and 5.3 rebounds per game.

It went wrong almost at once. Murray broke his hand in the 2024 season opener and suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in January 2025, according to the Associated Press report on NBA.com. NBC Sports reported that the Achilles rupture then kept him out for most of the 2025-26 season.

The Associated Press put his total at 54 games for New Orleans over the previous three seasons, with averages of 16.6 points, 6.6 assists and 5.9 rebounds.

This season has been no kinder. In nine appearances Murray was averaging 13.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals in 31.4 minutes, according to NBC Sports, and shooting 41.9% from the field, according to the Associated Press.

The team numbers are starker still. New Orleans had gone 1-8 with Murray in the lineup, the Associated Press reported. He missed three games in late October and early November for personal reasons, NBC Sports said, and the Pelicans won all three.

What a deal would involve

Any team that wants Murray has to take on the contract as well as the player. He is making $32.8 million in 2026-27 and holds a player option for $30.8 million for the following season, according to the Associated Press.

There is at least one interested party. Yahoo Sports reported that the Phoenix Suns had expressed interest in Murray, a 2022 All-Star.

For New Orleans, the request speeds up a handover that was already under way. NBC Sports said Murray had been starting alongside second-year guard Jeremiah Fears, a player many viewed as the Pelicans’ point guard of the future. Yahoo Sports reported that the lead-guard role now goes to Fears, the No. 7 overall pick in 2025, in Murray’s absence.

That gives a struggling team a clearer picture of its backcourt, even if the record offers little comfort. The Pelicans’ statement was careful to say any deal must suit the organisation, and with Murray injured and away from the team there is no obvious rush on the court.

The Suns, the team Yahoo Sports named as interested, are next in action against the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday 15 November at 21:00 UTC.