With less than two days until tip-off of the opening night of the 2024-25 NBA season, the NBA news cycle has yet to stop. The New Orleans Pelicans have agreed to a four-year contract extension with 24-year-old forward Trey Murphy III. The deal will be worth $112 million and will keep him in a Pelicans uniform for the next five seasons. The extension holds no player options or incentives and was first reported by Marc Stein.
Murphy III was selected with the 17th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. He was limited to just 13.9 minutes per game as a rookie and produced measly totals of just 5.4 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. He took a massive step forward in his second season and finished seventh in the Most Improved voting after starting 65 of the 79 games he played in for the Pelicans. Murphy III averaged 14.5 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 40.6% on three-point attempts while launching 6.3 per game.
Last season, Murphy saw his role reduce slightly as he battled injuries and only started 23 of the 57 games he played in. His minutes slipped from 31.0 minutes per game to 29.6 minutes per game although he still showed some statistical growth. Overall the Virginia product averaged 14.8 points and 4.9 rebounds while shooting 38% from three on 7.8 long-range shots per game.
Trey Murphy now becomes the sixth member of the 2021 first-round class to sign an extension ahead of the 6 PM EST deadline today. He joins Cade Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes, Franz Wagner, and Moses Moody on this list. The lack of buzz surrounding a contract extension had many expecting these negotiations would not be completed ahead of the deadline, but this is a massive vote of confidence for the Pelicans’ long-term belief in one of the premier three-and-D wings across the NBA.
What Trey Murphy’s Extension Means for the Pelicans
New Orleans has been building up their young core for several years now but is still trying to fully flip the switch to a true contender. They finished the season 49-33 last year, their best record since 2008-09, but fell short to the Lakers in the opening play-in matchup. They ultimately secured the 8th seed and were swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.
The Pelicans were active this summer with their most notable move being to trade for Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks. Murray struggled to fit alongside Trae Young but still is coming off of a season averaging 22.5 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.3 rebounds on solid shooting splits. They also recently inked Jose Alvarado to a two-year extension to provide some valuable bench minutes at the guard spot.
As the team looks to turn a page and climb up the list of contenders, their core is in place. Zion Williamson is under contract through the 2027-28 season, Dejounte Murray and Herb Jones are each under contract through the 2026-27 season, and CJ McCollum still has two years remaining on his contract before he hits free agency.
While you can get caught up in the over $25 million annual salary that Murphy is receiving, he has a perfect skillset for the modern NBA and is only scratching the surface of his abilities. Entering the league with a reputation as an athletic high-flyer, Murphy has rapidly grown into one of the league’s best shooters. He has improved in just about every offensive area of his game and stands 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-1 wingspan. At just 24 years old, there is plenty of more growth set to occur for Murphy.
The biggest takeaway outside of this is that the Brandon Ingram era in New Orleans is almost certainly coming to an end. The former second-overall pick has spent the past five years of his career with the Pelicans and is entering this season on the final year of his contract. Ingram’s name appeared in some trade talks this offseason after taking a notable step back in production last year.
Whether or not he plays out the final year of his contract before hitting free agency or ends up a part of a midseason trade is to be determined, but it is difficult to imagine the Pelicans committing to the Duke product considering the fit concerns and the money that has been handed out elsewhere.
The list of teams more talented than the Pelicans is shorter than people recognize, but they have to stay healthy and have the opportunity to play together. Zion Williamson has teased the ability to be a number-one option and franchise centerpiece in small doses but has played just 184 total games across his five seasons in the NBA and has been limited to 29 or fewer in a season three times. Even last season he was in the midst of arguably his most impressive NBA performance in the play-in game against the Lakers before he pulled his hamstring.
New Orleans will hope for a little injury luck this season and some time to develop chemistry with each other. Murphy himself will not be available for the start of the season due to a hamstring injury he is battling. The West is deeper than it has been in quite some time so it is a difficult path. But don’t rule out the Pelicans as a dark horse playoff threat this year.
If things are to fall to disaster, Murphy III’s contract is one that will likely hold positive trade value moving forward. He is the style of player that can fit on any contender and the hope is this is the role he will fill in New Orleans.
On DraftKings Sportsbook the Pelicans hold a season over/under of 46.5 wins. Their conference seeding over/under sits at 7.5 and they hold +5500 odds of winning the NBA championship this season.
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