The New Orleans Pelicans and forward Trey Murphy agreed to a four-year, $112 million contract extension Monday ahead of the 6 p.m. deadline for rookie-scale extensions, league sources confirmed. The deal does not include a player option.
NBA correspondent Marc Stein first reported news of the extension.
Murphy, 24, joins Dejounte Murray and Herb Jones as the cornerstones of a young core built around star Zion Williamson for the foreseeable future, with all four locked into contracts with New Orleans for at least the next three seasons.
Murphy has been sidelined since early October due to a right hamstring strain he suffered in the first few days of training camp. The expectation is that Murphy won’t be cleared to play in time for Wednesday’s regular-season opener against the Chicago Bulls, but there’s still hope he can get back on the floor before the end of the month.
Still, the Pelicans prioritized getting a deal done with Murphy because he fits with the rest of the Pelicans’ core and possesses the kind of skill set every team is seeking in today’s NBA. He’s a 6-foot-9 wing who knocks down 3-pointers at a high rate, scores in transition and has steadily improved as a defender each of the past few seasons, all of which makes him a natural fit next to Williamson.
In 198 career games, Murphy has made 442 3-pointers while shooting 39.2 percent from deep. He averaged 14.8 points and 4.9 rebounds per game last season, shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and 38 percent on 3-pointers.
This deal is another indication the Pelicans are likely to prepare for a future without former All-Star Brandon Ingram, who’s set to hit unrestricted free agency next summer. The Pelicans and Ingram can negotiate an extension any time before Ingram hits free agency, but Williamson, Murray, Jones and CJ McCollum already make a combined $115.6 million in 2025-26. Adding Murphy’s new deal on top of that makes it almost impossible for New Orleans to add another lucrative extension to the books and avoid being a second-apron luxury tax team for the foreseeable future.
The Pelicans acquired Murphy with the 17th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft as part of a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies. In that deal, New Orleans sent the 10th overall pick in the 2021 draft to Memphis, which the Grizzlies used to select forward Ziaire Williams.
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