Pelicans’ Murphy To Miss Rest Of Season With Shoulder Injury

Pelicans wing Trey Murphy has been diagnosed with a torn labrum and partial tear of the rotator cuff in his right shoulder, the team announced late on Monday night (via Twitter). Murphy underwent an MRI to confirm the diagnosis.

The injury occurred less than one minute into Monday’s blowout loss to Detroit. Murphy had a pass knocked away by Pistons wing Ausar Thompson on the Pelicans’ opening possession and dove on the floor trying to corral the loose ball (video link). He stayed down in obvious pain, grabbing at his shoulder, which was dislocated on the play, per the club.

Murphy will miss the remainder of the 2024/25 season as a result of the injury.

The Pelicans are well out of postseason contention at this point, so Murphy’s absence for the final few weeks of the season won’t compromise their ability to contend. Still, it’s the latest setback in what has been a brutal, injury-plagued year for the franchise.

Virtually all of New Orleans’ key players missed significant time as a result of some sort of health issue this season, with Murphy the third starter to suffer a season-ending injury — Dejounte Murray tore his Achilles tendon in late January, while Herbert Jones underwent surgery in February to address a shoulder injury similar to Murphy’s.

The Pelicans didn’t offer any additional updates on Murphy’s treatment plan or recovery timeline, so it’s unclear if and when he’ll undergo surgery and how much time it might take him to get back to 100%. The club stated that further updates will be shared as appropriate.

Although it has been a forgettable season in New Orleans, it was a career year statistically for Murphy, who increased his scoring average to 21.1 points per game while also setting career highs in rebounds (5.1) and assists (3.5) per game. The fourth-year swingman started 51 of the 53 games he played in ’24/25, posting a shooting line of .454/.361/.887.

Murphy signed a four-year, $112MM rookie scale extension with the Pelicans last offseason. That contract will go into effect for the 2025/26 league year.

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