Lack of Dejounte Murray Clarity Is Hurting the Pelicans Ahead of Trade Deadline

The New Orleans Pelicans would love to get Dejounte Murray on the court before February.

Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The NBA trade deadline on February 5 is right around the corner. With only five weeks left between now and then, teams around the league will have to make decisions on whether to be buyers or sellers. For the New Orleans Pelicans, that decision is relatively straightforward. Stuck at the bottom of the Western Conference, the Pels have to part ways with their veterans with trade value. The more interesting question for New Orleans is which veterans to trade and what the asking price should be.

Among those, the most fascinating decision will be regarding Dejounte Murray. The 29-year-old has yet to make his season debut after rupturing his Achilles in January 2025. While the initial reports set the expectations of a return in January, we have yet to get a clear timeline from the team. This lack of clarity will be a challenge for the Pelicans ahead of the trade deadline.

Pelicans Are Running Out of Time Before Having to Make a Dejounte Murray Decision

The last update on Murray came from head coach James Borrego on December 19. He said that the former All-Star guard was "working his tail off" in rehab, but didn't provide a return date for Murray. Borrego added that he has been impressed with how far Murray has come and how hard he has been working, but he doesn't know when the Pelicans will "have him back."

Since then, the Pelicans haven't disclosed any more information about Murray's return.

On one hand, the Pelicans would love to get Murray back to showcase him before the trade deadline. On the other hand, with their season already effectively over, there is no reason to rush any injured player back.

The fact that the trade deadline is only five weeks away, however, complicates matters. There is a race against time for the Pelicans. There have recently been reports about potential interest in Murray, specifically from the Milwaukee Bucks. Understandably, any interested teams will want to see Murray in action before giving up assets to acquire him. This means that the veteran combo guard has to play for at least a couple of weeks and prove that he is healthy.

The chances of Murray returning and looking like his former self right away seem improbable. Perhaps the better strategy for the Pelicans is to bring him along slowly and showcase him in the final stretch of the season and trade him in the offseason. Regardless of which direction the Pelicans go, it's hard to imagine them getting anywhere near the Dyson Daniels plus two first-round picks value they gave up to acquire him.