Trey Murphy Is the Pelicans' Best Player. It's Time They Act Like It

The New Orleans Pelicans have to start treating Trey Murphy like their franchise star.

Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Pelicans are in the midst of a disastrous season, which will almost certainly end at the bottom of the Western Conference. Until the end of the campaign, the Pelicans' season will be less about the record and more about the future of the franchise. The fans will be looking for things to be hopeful and optimistic about. That means seeing decisions from the front office and the coaching staff that set the team up well for the future.

So far, one of the biggest sources of hope for Pelicans fans has been the development of Trey Murphy. In his fifth season in the league, the 25-year-old forward has taken a massive step forward and is looking like a future All-Star. Averaging career highs across the board, Murphy is putting up 22.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game on 49.7/38.7/89.7 shooting splits. Not only has Murphy taken on a larger offensive role, but he has also upped his efficiency to an impressive 63.8% True Shooting.

Despite Murphy's step into stardom, however, the Pelicans have yet to come to terms with the reality that he is their best player. The future of the franchise belongs to Trey Murphy, who has improved every season he has been in the league.

Pelicans Should Be Trey Murphy's Team

Yet, in the fourth quarter against the Rockets on Sunday, Murphy took only two shots. Jordan Poole and Zion Williamson combined for 13 shots in the same period. Even though Murphy was leading the team in scoring once again, he had a lower usage rate than Poole, Williamson, Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears, and Jordan Hawkins in the game.

This has been a disturbing trend all season. Williamson, Fears, and Poole all have higher usage rates than Murphy for the season, despite Murphy being the most efficient player on the team.

Murphy's underutilization is a problem head coach James Borrego has to fix. Not handing the keys to Murphy and making him the franchise cornerstone, however, is on the front office.

Joe Dumars & Co. are reportedly not trading Zion Williamson at the deadline, and are interested in trading for Ja Morant, proving that they have no idea how to build a sustainable winner. Instead of featuring Murphy more and letting him explore studio space, the Pelicans are trying to surround him with ball-dominant non-shooters.

The quicker the Pelicans understand that Murphy, not Williamson or Morant, is the player to build around, the easier their path to relevance will be. New Orleans doesn't seem to understand that it has a potential star wing whose prime is yet to come in its hands, much to the frustration of its fanbase.