Despite injury setbacks, Dejounte Murray ignited offensive sparks and showcased impressive play. Unpacking his season reveals surprising resurgence and lingering questions for New Orleans.
The New Orleans Pelicans' season did not go as planned, but it was an interesting year for almost all of the players (for better or worse). There were some surprises, some let-downs and a whole lot of information to unpack before building next year's team.
To better understand the team as a whole, it's important to break everything down to the individual level. Here's a look at what went well, what went wrong and an overall grade for Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray's 2026 campaign:
What Went Well
Whenever Murray was in the lineup, good things were happening for New Orleans. He came back from his Achilles injury from last year and looked the best he has in years.
He averaged 16.7 points, 5.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists and 1.6 steals per outing, on limited minutes and not being able to play in back-to-backs. He’s had stretches where he’s put up bigger numbers, but he looked great on a play-to-play basis.
The team played better as a whole with Murray on the court. It certainly leads one to think that they may be better off keeping him this offseason and seeing what they look like with a chance to gel in the offseason and actually play together when it matters.
What Went Wrong
Obviously, the big issue was the availability, but there wasn’t much more he could do about that.
Some in the fanbase were rubbed wrong by the reported trade request towards the deadline, but that has been refuted by some and isn’t really that big of a deal in the long term.
Overall Grade - N/A
This might feel a little bit like cheating, but there wasn’t enough of a sample size to have a real grade on his performance. What was able to be seen was good, at least. He was involved with the team while hurt, has been a mentor for Jeremiah Fears and seems to be in for a run next year.
What's Next?
This is the big question. He’s coming off that brutal Achilles injury, approaching 30 and still has two years of making over $30 million.
New Orleans could decide to move on from him, but it’s hard to imagine getting too much on the market before the trade deadline. The smarter move, for now, may be to just keep him around and seeing how the team performs over the first half of next season.