{"id":178524,"date":"2026-02-22T10:13:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:13:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=178524"},"modified":"2026-02-22T10:13:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T15:13:35","slug":"when-will-pelicans-veteran-make-his-season-debut-what-will-his-role-be-future-with-franchise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2026\/02\/22\/when-will-pelicans-veteran-make-his-season-debut-what-will-his-role-be-future-with-franchise\/","title":{"rendered":"When Will Pelicans Veteran Make His Season Debut, What Will His Role Be & Future With Franchise?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Pelicans<\/a> continue to be shorthanded with four players sidelined due to injuries in their stunning home victory over the Philadelphia 76ers<\/a> last night. The Pelicans,<\/a> who have struggled all season long, should get some reinforcements back really soon.<\/p>\n

When Will Dejounte Murray Make His Season Debut & Does He Have a Future with The Pelicans?<\/h2>\n

New Orleans has been one of the worst teams in the NBA<\/a> this season, though the Pelicans have played some of their best basketball lately. The Pelicans picked up their eighth victory in their last 19 games following their 126-111 victory over the Sixers as Jordan Poole<\/a> led seven players in double-figures, including three with 20 points, as he finished with 23 points on 8 of 15 shooting from the field and five assists.<\/p>\n

Zion Williamson<\/a> also had a monster game with 21 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, while Saddiq Bey<\/a> added 20 points on 7 of 14 shooting with four treys. DeAndre Jordan<\/a> grabbed a season-high 15 boards in just his third game of the season.<\/p>\n

New Orleans now has the fourth-worst record in the NBA at 16-43. The Pelicans still need three more wins to avoid the franchise record for futility and five more victories to tie last season’s total with 23 games remaining. And they should be getting all four of their injured players back soon.<\/p>\n

Trey Murphy III<\/a>, Yves Missi<\/a>, Micah Peavy<\/a>, and Dejounte Murray<\/a> are the Pelicans’ four injured players. Murray missed hissecond straight game with a shoulder injury and is considered day-to-day. Missi (calf) and Peavy (toe) sat out their third consecutive games and are also considered day-to-day.<\/p>\n

New Orleans is off until Tuesday when they conclude their five-game homestand against Golden State. Following the Warriors contest, the Pelicans head West for a six-game road trip. They begin the trip in Utah with back-to-back games against the Jazz on February 26 and 28.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Stephen Lew, Imagn Images<\/p>\n

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Dejounte Murray Is Expected To Make Season Debut Against Utah<\/h3>\n

On Friday, Pelicans coach James Borrego<\/a> said Murray was really close to making his season debut as he had fully practiced on Wednesday and Thursday.<\/a> Murray was even upgraded to doubtful<\/a> on the Pelicans injury report against the 76ers before ultimately being ruled out, meaning that he has been inactive for nearly 13 months due to his torn Achilles.<\/p>\n

According to Rod Walker of NOLA<\/a>, the Pelicans are now targeting Tuesday’s contest against the Jazz.<\/p>\n

“James Borrego on Dejounte Murray: “I expect him to be there in the next couple of games. Hopefully it’s Tuesday night. We’d all be excited for that,” Walker tweeted before the game against the 76ers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Murray has only played 31 games for the Pelicans since New Orleans sent a boatload of capital to Atlanta for the former all-second defensive team selection. Dyson Daniels<\/a> was among four players and two first-rounders sent to the Hawks for Murray. The Hawks used one of the first-rounders on Drake Powell<\/a>, with the No. 22 pick in this draft, and subsequently sent him to Brooklyn as part of the Kristaps Porzingis<\/a> trade. They then flipped Porzingis to Golden State for Buddy Hield<\/a> and Jonathan Kuminga<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More significantly, Murray has struggled to stay healthy and be productive. Before suffering the season-ending Achilles injury (January 31, 2025), Murray missed 17 games due to a fractured left hand. He averaged 17.4 points, 6.5 rebounds, 7.4 assists, and 3.4 turnovers last season. Additionally, he knocked down 1.7 threes with shooting splits of 39.3\/29.9\/82.3.<\/p>\n

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What Will\u00a0 Murray’s Role and Expectations Be When He Returns?<\/h4>\n

Still, Borrego has high expectations of Murray when he is on the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/span>I\u2019m expecting a lot from him<\/em>,\u201d Borrego said, per Walker.<\/a> \u201c<\/span>He\u2019s coming off a massive injury, but what I\u2019ve seen has been encouraging. I look forward to watching him<\/em>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Murray is likely to be on a minutes restriction once he does return. More than likely, Borrego will bring the 6-4 combo guard off the bench as the first guard behind Jeremiah Fears<\/a> and Jordan Poole<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Once Murray\u00a0<\/span>makes his return, all eyes in New Orleans will be on the former All-Star,” Cem Yolbulan of The Sports Illustrated<\/a>. He is obviously not going to turn the season around for the Pelicans, but how he looks upon his return will determine how the roster looks and where Murray plays next season.<\/p>\n

“Murray doesn’t have to look like his former All-Star self when he is back on the court,” Yolbulan continued. “He just has to prove that he can stay healthy for an extended period of time while looking physically and athletically fit. He will likely have a small role at first, so if he can give the Pelicans solid 20 minutes off the bench on both ends of the floor, he will do wonders for his trade value.”<\/p>\n

What exactly does Murray need to show on the court? First, health is the most important thing to Murray. Murray has been healthy for most of his career, except for the last two seasons. He also needs to show he can handle the game’s pace while still defending. Lastly, he needs to demonstrate that his midrange game is reliable.<\/p>\n

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Does Dejountae Murray have A Future With The Pelicans?<\/h3>\n

New Orleans is just 37-103 since acquiring Murray, including 9-22 in games that Murray has played. The Pelicans had won 40+ games in the two seasons before acquiring Murray. Conversely, the Hawks are 67-73 over this stretch. Not saying this is Murray’s fault, as the Pelicans have been hampered by injuries through this stretch and several bad decisions.<\/p>\n

Murray is one of the top two-way guards in the league. But Murray is 29 and has two years left on his $63.4 million deal. Murray is slated to make $32.7 million in 2026-27 and has a $30.2 million player option for 2027-28. Meanwhile, the Pelicans’ average for next year is 25.5.<\/p>\n

So, in essence, Murray and the Pelicans, who have finally embraced a rebuild, are on different timelines. The Pelicans couldn’t have 14 players under contract for next year with a salary cap hit totaling $196.21 million. That puts the Pelicans $4.8 million under the luxury tax.<\/p>\n

So, it is not a surprise that New Orleans has some desire<\/a> to move Muray.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne rumor making the rounds involves sending Grizzlies star\u00a0<\/span>Ja Morant<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>to New Orleans in a deal centered around veteran guards Jordan Poole and Dejounte Murray,\u201d William Guillory of The Athletic said before the trade deadline.<\/a> \u201cBut a league source told\u00a0<\/span>The Athletic\u00a0<\/span>the rumor was \u201ccompletely false\u201d and the likelihood of Morant landing in New Orleans is extremely low because the team believes in Fears as its point guard of the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYet while this particular deal seems unlikely, there is a growing sentiment that the Pelicans would prefer to move one \u2014 if not both \u2014 of the contracts attached to Poole and Murray,\u201d Guillory continued.<\/p>\n

New Orleans does have some flexibility. Kevon Looney<\/a> ($8 million) and Karlo Matkovic<\/a> ($2.2 million) have team options for next season. They will also look to move some players in trades. Poole, Missi, and Jordan Hawkins<\/a> with Herbert Jones<\/a>, Williamson. and Murphy are all also trade candidates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The New Orleans Pelicans continue to be shorthanded with four players sidelined due to injuries in their stunning home victory over the Philadelphia 76ers last night. The Pelicans, who have struggled all season long, should get some reinforcements back really soon. When Will Dejounte Murray Make His Season Debut & Does He Have a Future […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":178582,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,2,62,33,3],"tags":[1262,49956,1909,1965,1684],"class_list":["post-178524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-featured","category-nba","category-pelicans","category-news","tag-dejounte-murray","tag-jeremiah-fears","tag-jordan-poole","tag-kevon-looney","tag-zion-williamson"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178524","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=178524"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":178583,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/178524\/revisions\/178583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/178582"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=178524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=178524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=178524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}