NBA Realities

The New Orleans Pelicans will have a new guard in their starting lineup next season as they acquired Dejounte Murray from the Hawks on June 28th 2024. The team traded  Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels, E.J. Lidell and two first-round picks for Murray.

Dejounte Murray Best Attribute

At first glance, New Orleans’ decision to acquire Murray is confusing as they are unlikely to showcase his strengths. Dejounte Murray has been most effective as a pick-and-roll ball handler throughout his NBA career. He has spent 39% of his possessions over the past three seasons as a pick-and-roll ball handler, averaging 8.6 per game. 

Murray averaged 7.7 points per game, shooting 45.2% on 7.3 attempts. Murray’s pick-and-roll production accounted for 36% of his scoring output, as he averaged 21.4 points per game over the last three seasons.

Unfortunately, the Pelicans have been 20th in pick-and-roll possessions over the past three seasons under Willie Green. Pick-and-rolls account for 15.2% of the team’s possessions, averaging 16.9 per game.

Dejounte Murray’s role in Pelicans offense

Under Green, the New Orleans Pelicans have been more of a ball-movement team. The team has averaged 298.7 passes per game over the past three seasons, which is among the top ten in the NBA. Green’s offensive philosophy has led to wings being off the ball and taking a significant number of three-pointers. 

Pelicans vs Raptors

For example, CJ McCollum dribbled the ball up the floor early in the first quarter of a home game vs the Toronto Raptors on February 5th, 2024. Upon reaching the three-point line, he passed the ball to Jonas Valančiūnas, who was standing at the top of the key.

Valančiūnas immediately passed the basketball to Brandon Ingram, who stood on the left wing. Ingram took several steps toward the basket before passing the ball to Herb Jones in the right corner. Jones attempted to attack the basket before passing the ball back to Ingram, who moved to the right wing. 

Ingram passed the ball to McCollum, who made a three-pointer from the top of the key.

Consequently, players like Jones and Trey Murphy have taken at least 36.6% of their shots from behind the arc over the three seasons, averaging a minimum of 2.8 attempts per game. Unfortunately, three-point shooting is the weakest part of Dejounte Murray’s skill set.

He has a career percentage of 34.5% on 3.4 attempts per game in seven seasons. Murray’s shooting percentage is 1.5% below the league average since the 2016-17 season (36%).

Consequently, unless Willie Green alters his offensive philosophy next season to feature  Dejounte Murray’s best skill, he will underperform with the Pelicans.