The New Orleans Pelicans have a different outlook for next season and beyond thanks to Dejounte Murray.
Despite their season being lost already, the Pels are fighting until the end with the hopes of finishing with a respectable record and building momentum for next season. A big reason why New Orleans has gone 7-3 in their last ten games is the return of Dejounte Murray.
. Since the 29-year-old guard made his season debut on February 24th, the Pelicans have looked like a different team. Individually, Murray has looked better than anyone could have expected, which changes the calculation for the Pelicans moving forward. Murray had his best game of the season on Wednesday night, putting up 27 points, five rebounds, six assists, and two steals on 12/20 shooting from the field in 31 minutes. He had the highlight of the game in the fourth quarter when he dropped Jamal Shead with a crossover before hitting the jumper over him, sending the message to the league that he is back. The Pelicans guard is averaging 26.4 minutes per game in the seven games he played after missing 13 months of action with a ruptured Achilles. He is in the midst of a career-best stretch in terms of efficiency with 60.8% True Shooting while also having a career-high usage rate of 28.4%. His numbers are better across the board than his pre-injury stats as a Pelican. As a result, New Orleans is +14.8 points per 100 possessions better with him on the floor than when he is off, per. In fact, the Pelicans have a +9.6 net rating with Murray playing, which would make them the second-best team in the NBA for a full season. There is obviously a sample size issue. There will be a regression to the mean, both in terms of Murray's and the Pelicans' performance. At the same time, these numbers shouldn't be entirely ignored. The Pelicans are a much better team with Murray. If they want to keep him around next season, he should be able to give them quality production as their starting point guard. He may end up being worth the $32.8 million he is owed next season. If the Pelicans want to embrace a rebuild, however, Murray's impressive performance becomes even more important. Before he returned to action, Murray was considered to be a negative asset due to his salary. The Pelicans would have had issues with trading him for any positive return. Now that he is looking explosive again, however, Murray could bring back real assets in a trade. This creates a dilemma for the front office. Trading Murray for future assets means that the Pelicans would take a significant step back. One could argue, however, that it is needed to build a sustainable winner. Winning 35-40 games with Murray on the roster is probably worse for the team in the long run than winning 25 games with Jeremiah Fears as the starting point guard. Plus, Murray may never have more trade value than he will this offseason if he finishes the season strong. Murray is giving Pelicans fans hope and excitement with his unexpectedly solid play down the stretch. Whether that increases his chances of being a part of this team next season or his odds of being traded for positive assets remains to be seen. Regardless of the answer, the Pelicans will surely benefit from it.Cem has worked as an Associate Editor for FanSided's Regional Betting Network sites for two years and continues to be a contributor, producing NBA and NFL content. He has also previously written soccer content for Sports Illustrated. He has extensive prior experience covering the NBA for various Fansided sites. Cem has been living in the Washington, DC area for over 15 years since moving to the United States from Istanbul, Turkey. On any given day, he can be found watching soccer or basketball on his couch with his many cats and dogs.
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