Trey Murphy Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Southwest Notes: Irving, Lofton Jr., Murphy, Eason

December 9th, 2023 at 9:52am CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving suffered a right foot injury on Friday when teammate Dwight Powell landed on him. Coach Jason Kidd said he’ll know more on Saturday about the extent of the injury, according to ESPN.

Dante Exum picked up the slack with 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds in a victory over Portland.

“One of the biggest things with our team is our next man up mentality,” Exum told Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “You see that right now with me as an example. We have (a lot of players) down. And the guys have been able to step up. Hopefully, he (Irving) is not out for too long, but we have a deep roster that’s willing and ready to step up.”

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Kenneth Lofton Jr. has shed 20 pounds in the past three weeks, he told Damichael Cole of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Lofton has played sparingly for the Grizzlies this season despite frontcourt injuries. He’s hoping his improved conditioning will lead to a bigger role. “My mental has been good,” he said. “I’m just pretty much waiting on my time, working off the court and getting better at my strengths. Really just focusing on myself.” He needs to show more, as his $2.02MM salary for next season is not guaranteed.
When the Pelicans executed a trade three days before the 2021 draft, Trey Murphy knew the organization was interested in selecting him. In a multi-player trade, New Orleans gave up the 10th pick and received the 17th pick. However, Murphy wasn’t sure if he’d go a little higher. “I knew for sure once they moved back from 10 to 17, they are making a move with the intent of drafting me at 17,” Murphy told Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times-Picayune. “I knew my draft range was around 14 to 17. That was my range. I was either going to go 14 to the Warriors or go 16 to Oklahoma City at the time. It ended up changing to Houston (in a draft-night trade). One of those three teams.”
Second-year forward Tari Eason has endeared himself to Rockets coach Ime Udoka due to his versatility, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic. “Metric-wise or analytic-wise, he’s off the charts for all of those reasons. He defends, can shoot the ball and do some different things with his offensive rebounding, loose balls. Where other guys might touch their hands and lose it, he gets every one of those,” Udoka said. “Just makes the right plays over and over. We’re happy that his minutes are starting to go up. We can play him a little bit more here and there and we understand how impactful he is for us.”

Southwest Notes: Murphy, Williamson, Brooks, Tillman

December 2nd, 2023 at 12:05pm CST by Tristan Tucker

Pelicans wing Trey Murphy tore the meniscus in his left knee in September, missing the first 19 games of New Orleans’ season. The injury was a major setback for a player who had increased his scoring average from 5.4 points per game in 2021/22 to 14.5 last season, establishing himself as one of the Pelicans’ key rotation pieces.

Murphy made his 2023 season debut on Friday, immediately picking back up where he left off. He scored 18 points in his return and helped the Pels to a 15-point victory over the Spurs.

“He’s been a big part of our success the last two seasons,” coach Willie Green said, per Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “We all were rallying for him to get on the floor and get back. It was like he didn’t miss a beat. Now it’s about building that chemistry with everyone on the team.”

The Pelicans, who have dealt with a litany of injuries over the past few seasons, are getting healthier and healthier. The only rotation player currently dealing with a long-term injury is Larry Nance Jr., who is out four-to-six weeks, a far cry from what the injury report has looked like in season’s past.

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Pelicans star forward Zion Williamson is expected to play in the team’s Saturday matchup against the Bulls, according to Green (Twitter link via ESPN’s Andrew Lopez). Lopez notes that this would be the first back-to-back Williamson has played this season. The two-time All-Star is averaging 23.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 5.0 assists this season.
The Rockets entered Friday tied for the fourth-best defense in the league, in large part to wing Dillon Brooks‘ contributions on the floor, according to The Athletic’s Kelly Iko. Iko breaks down Brooks’ unique approach to defense, including the fact that he guards players in an unconventional way — by clapping in their face. “I feel like everyone in the league knows I slap people’s hands on jump shots after the ball’s released,” Brooks told The Athletic. “So it puts a thought in their mind that when I close out, you’re not getting a free shot. When they work out, they’re so used to following through. But when I close out, I like to mix in different things like that.“
Grizzlies center Xavier Tillman played in Memphis’ Friday matchup with the Mavericks (Twitter link via team), playing 21 minutes and helping the Grizzlies to a 14-point win. Tillman had appeared in just one game since Nov. 3, so his return to the lineup is welcome for a Memphis team that won back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Pelicans’ Murphy, Pistons’ Bogdanovic Nearing Season Debuts

November 30th, 2023 at 12:34pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pelicans are optimistic that third-year forward Trey Murphy will make his 2023/24 season debut on Friday against San Antonio, sources tell Shams Charania and Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Murphy, who underwent surgery in September to repair a partially torn meniscus in his left knee, is fully recovered from the injury, according to Charania.

Murphy’s imminent return is certainly welcome news for New Orleans, which has dealt with numerous injuries to rotation players early on this season. The Pelicans just got CJ McCollum back yesterday, and Murphy will further bolster the team’s outside shooting.

The 17th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Murphy emerged as a full-time starter for New Orleans in ’22/23. He averaged 14.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 31.0 minutes per night across 79 appearances (65 starts), posting an impressive shooting line of .484/.406/.905.

Another sharpshooting forward could make his season debut this week as well, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that Pistons veteran Bojan Bogdanovic might suit up on Saturday vs. Cleveland.

Bogdanovic, who is questionable for Thursday’s matchup against New York on Thursday (Twitter link via James L. Edwards III of The Athletic), has been sidelined with a right calf strain. Edwards first reported that the 34-year-old could suit up this week.

Now in his 10th NBA season, Bogdanovic averaged a career-high 21.6 points on an excellent .488/.411/.884 shooting line last season for Detroit, which has lost a team-record 15 consecutive games and has the worst record in the league at 2-16. Bogdanovic should provide a boost to the Pistons’ 27th-ranked offense.

Injury Notes: McCollum, James, Reddish, Murray, Markkanen, Durant, Connaughton

November 28th, 2023 at 10:57pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Pelicans guard CJ McCollum has been upgraded to questionable for Wednesday’s game against Philadelphia, the team’s PR department tweets. McCollum has been out since Nov. 4 after being diagnosed with a collapsed lung. McCollum has missed New Orleans’ last 12 games.

Trey Murphy III (knee) and Matt Ryan (calf) have been upgraded to doubtful. Murphy, a starter most of last season, has yet to make his season debut. Ryan hasn’t played since Nov. 18.

We have more injury-related updates:

Lakers star LeBron James is listed as questionable to play against Detroit on Wednesday due to a left calf contusion, according to the team’s PR department (hat tip to Orange County Register’s Khobi Price). Cam Reddish (left groin strain) and Anthony Davis (left adductor) are listed as probable, while Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt will not play.
Jamal Murray has been upgraded to questionable for the Nuggets’ game against Houston on Wednesday, Harrison Wind of DNVR Sports tweets. Murray has been out since Nov. 4 due to a hamstring strain.
Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen will miss at least two more games due to a left hamstring strain, Eric Walden of the Salt Lake Tribune tweets. He’ll be reevaluated after the team returns from its two-game road trip.
The Suns have listed Kevin Durant (right foot contusion) and Grayson Allen (illness) as questionable to play Wednesday against Toronto, Gerald Bourguet of PHNX Sports tweets.
Pat Connaughton exited the Bucks’ game on Tuesday early with a right ankle sprain, the team tweets.

Injury Notes: Ball, Bouknight, Butler, Murphy, Reddish, Oubre

November 28th, 2023 at 1:28pm CST by Luke Adams

There’s some good news and bad news on the injury front for the Hornets. The team confirmed (via Twitter) that star guard LaMelo Ball will be unavailable on Tuesday in New York for Charlotte’s final round robin game in the in-season tournament, as he’s been ruled out due to a right ankle strain.

However, guard James Bouknight, who has spent the entire season recovering from knee surgery that he underwent last month, has been cleared to return and will be active for the first time on Tuesday. According to Rod Boone of The Charlotte Observer (Twitter link), Bouknight described himself as “excited (and) anxious,” noting that it has been quite some time since he played.

Here are a few more injury-related notes from around the NBA:

The Heat still have a chance to claim a spot in the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament with a win over Milwaukee tonight, but if they’re going to do it, they’ll need to do it without Jimmy Butler. He has been ruled out for Tuesday’s contest due to a sprained right ankle, per the team (Twitter link).
With CJ McCollum reportedly nearing a return for the Pelicans, will Trey Murphy be right behind him? Christian Clark of NOLA.com hears from multiple sources that there’s optimism Murphy could make his season debut next week. Murphy underwent surgery in September to repair a torn meniscus in his knee.
Cam Reddish, who has missed the Lakers‘ past three games with a groin strain, is “extremely close” to returning, head coach Darvin Ham said on Monday, according to Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link).
Sixers forward Kelly Oubre won’t play on Wednesday, but head coach Nick Nurse isn’t ruling out the possibility that Oubre could be back in action on Friday, tweets Derek Bodner of PHLY Sports. Oubre, who hasn’t played since November 10 after being struck by a vehicle, took part in contact drills in practice on Tuesday.

Southwest Notes: Irving, Mavs, Adams, Murphy

November 9th, 2023 at 11:06pm CST by Rory Maher

Kyrie Irving is known for being mercurial, but he seems pleased with his new role on the Mavericks, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (subscriber link). It’s a small sample size (six games), but Irving has been acting as more of a facilitator and secondary play-maker alongside Luka Doncic, with the 31-year-old averaging a career-high 7.3 assists and 18.2 shots per game, his fewest attempts since 2017/18.

“I feel like that’s kind of a cop-out,” Irving said of emphasizing individual statistics. “The focus is really on our team wins, our team camaraderie — and how do I make sure I get the best out of my teammates every single night, despite what I’m doing out there scoring-wise.”

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The Mavericks are off to a strong start, currently sitting at 6-2. However, one of their weaknesses was exposed in Wednesday’s loss to Toronto with rookie center Dereck Lively sidelined due to an illness, according to Townsend (subscriber-only). Dallas was obliterated down low, outscored by 32 in the paint and outrebounded by 12. “We were soft in the interior, in the paint,” Irving said. “When you have your head coach (Jason Kidd) calling you soft, you’ve got to take that personally and take that as a challenge.” As impressive as Lively has been at times, it’s unreasonable to expect a 19-year-old with limited experience to be the primary anchor of a top-end defense, and the Mavs will need to figure out how to control the paint when he’s unavailable, Townsend writes.
Steven Adams underwent successful surgery on Thursday to repair his right posterior ligament and is expected to make a full recovery prior to next season, the Grizzlies announced (via Twitter). The team’s starting center will unfortunately miss the entire 2023/24 season.
Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link) provides an injury update on Pelicans wing Trey Murphy, who is recovering from meniscus surgery on his left knee. According to Guillory, Murphy has been running prior to games, playing 1-on-1 against assistant coaches and is making good progress, but he’s still “at least a few weeks away” from returning to action.

Southwest Notes: Ryan, Murphy, Wembanyama, Lively, Bane

October 26th, 2023 at 3:55pm CST by Rory Maher

Matt Ryan, whose two-way contract was claimed off waivers by New Orleans after being released by Minnesota, had a strong debut with the Pelicans, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com (subscriber link).

The 26-year-old forward converted a trio of three-pointers in under three minutes during the second quarter, shifting the momentum of the game. While he only played 14 minutes, Ryan was a game-high plus-20 in the Pelicans’ 111-104 victory over Memphis, Clark notes.

After the game, Ryan reflected on his experience as a DoorDash driver once his college career ended, which coincided with the NBA shutting down the season due to the pandemic in March 2020.

“I was kind of getting bored going from home to the gym,” Ryan said. “I wanted to do something that was easy to drop and go play right away. I had a car. Was capable of delivering food. I did that for a little bit. But I stayed in the gym. Stayed focused on my goals. When the opportunity came, I was ready.”

Ryan is now on his fourth team, having made previous stops with the Celtics, Lakers and Wolves. He remains steadfast in his belief that he’s an NBA player, and he should have more opportunities to showcase his long-range shooting with Trey Murphy sidelined, Clark adds.

“I truly believed I could play at this level,” Ryan said. “It would have been easy to stop or take a mid-level job in Europe. I wanted to play in the NBA. I always did. I believe that I can. I’m going to continue to try to show it.”

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Murphy’s return timeline is up in the air due to a torn meniscus in his left knee, which required surgery, but he already feels like an essential piece for the Pelicans, Clark writes in another subscriber-only story for NOLA.com. Murphy, who was the 17th pick of the 2021 draft, is now in his third season. In 2022/23, he averaged 14.5 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 31.0 MPG across 79 appearances (65 starts), posting an impressive shooting line of .484/.406/.905. The Pelicans exercised their ’24/25 team option on Murphy, making him eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer. Clark suggests the 6’9″ sharpshooter could land a nine-figure payday on his next contract.
While Spurs No. 1 overall pick Victor Wembanyama had some moments of brilliance against Dallas in his regular season debut, recording 15 points (on 6-of-9 shooting), five rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block, he also committed five turnovers was limited to just 23 minutes in the loss due to foul trouble, notes Jonathan Givony of ESPN.
In the same story, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon says Mavericks center Dereck Lively II, who was the No. 12 overall pick, was the more impactful big man, notching 16 points (7-of-8 shooting), 10 rebounds, a steal, a block and a game-high plus-20 in 31 minutes off the bench. “He played f—ing amazing,” Mavs superstar Luka Doncic said.
Desmond Bane is finding his voice as a leader of the Grizzlies, particularly with Ja Morant suspended and Steven Adams out for the year with a knee injury, as Kelly Iko of The Athletic relays. Not only has the fourth-year guard become more vocal, he leads by example as well — he has an “obsessive work ethic,” according to Iko. “He’s the one on the team who I call ‘Cap’ for captain,” said rookie GG Jackson. “You can tell from his vibe in practice or even around the facility that he’s the lead dog, the most mature professional on the team. I still try to act a little goofy to add positivity, but he always has his head on the straight and narrow. He’s very serious about his craft. When it’s time to get to it he’s locked in.”

Pelicans Exercise 2024/25 Options On Dyson Daniels, Trey Murphy

October 19th, 2023 at 4:49pm CST by Rory Maher

The Pelicans have picked up their 2024/25 team options on Dyson Daniels and Trey Murphy, the team announced in a press release.

Neither player will be impacted in ’23/24, but their salaries for the following year are now locked in. Daniels will earn $6,059,520 in his third season, while Murphy will make $5,159,854 in his fourth.

A 6’8″ guard who was the No. 8 overall pick last year, Daniels averaged 3.8 PPG, 3.2 RPG and 2.3 APG on .418/.314/.650 shooting in 59 games as a rookie in ’22/23 (11 starts, 17.7 MPG). The 20-year-old Australian is known more for his strong defense than his offense at this stage of his career.

Murphy, meanwhile, will now be eligible for a rookie scale extension next summer after having his fourth-year option exercised.

The No. 17 overall pick in the 2021 draft, Murphy emerged as a full-time starter for New Orleans in ’22/23. He averaged 14.5 PPG and 3.6 RPG in 31.0 MPG across 79 appearances (65 starts), posting an impressive shooting line of .484/.406/.905.

Unfortunately, Murphy is currently sidelined a torn meniscus in his left knee, which required surgery. He’s expected to miss 10-to-12 weeks, with a rough return timeline of mid-November.

The full list of ’24/25 rookie scale team option decisions can be found right here.

Southwest Notes: Porter Jr., Murphy, Williamson

September 12th, 2023 at 10:47pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Kevin Porter Jr.‘s NBA career could be over, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

Appearing on the NBA on ESPN show (YouTube video link), Wojnarowski noted that the serious allegations against the Rockets guard, plus his past issues, have put his career in jeopardy.

“There’s no question, Kevin Porter‘s future, not just with the Rockets, but in the NBA, is very much in peril,” he said. “These are extremely serious allegations.”

Porter was arrested in New York City on felony charges involving a domestic incident with his girlfriend. The alleged attack on his girlfriend left her with a fractured neck vertebra and a deep cut above her right eye.

The league could place him on administrative leave until its investigation into the incident is complete.

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Sports injury expert Jeff Stotts believes the biggest issue regarding Trey Murphy‘s meniscus tear is the possibility of re-injury in the future, William Guillory of The Athletic writes. The Pelicans wing will now be at an increased risk for future meniscus problems, Stotts told Guillory in a Q&A season discussing the injury and the recovery process. Murphy underwent surgery for a partially torn left meniscus last week with a projected timeline of 10-12 weeks to return to action.
Zion Williamson‘s health will be the key to the Pelicans’ season, according to Shaun Powell of NBA.com. The team is built around him and another injury-riddled season could test New Orleans’ patience regarding its current franchise player.
In case you missed it, the Spurs waived Cameron Payne on Monday. Get the details here.

Trey Murphy Undergoes Surgery On Left Meniscus

September 7th, 2023 at 5:31pm CST by Luke Adams

SEPTEMBER 7: Murphy has undergone surgery to repair his slightly torn left meniscus and is expected to miss 10-to-12 weeks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). That timeline would have him back in action around mid-November, Wojnarowski adds.

Per a Pelicans press release (Twitter link), Murphy underwent a successful partial meniscectomy and received a biologic injection in his left knee. The release states that Murphy is expected to make a full recovery.

SEPTEMBER 5: Pelicans sharpshooter Trey Murphy III has suffered a meniscus injury in his left knee, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that the injury occurred during a workout on Tuesday.

Murphy will undergo further testing to determine the severity of the injury and the best treatment path, Wojnarowski adds, noting that it’s not yet clear whether he’ll require surgery.

The 17th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Murphy emerged as a full-time starter for New Orleans in his second NBA season. He averaged 14.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 31.0 minutes per night across 79 appearances (65 starts), posting an impressive shooting line of .484/.406/.905.

If Murphy has to miss a significant chunk of the season, it would be a major blow for a Pelicans team that would badly miss his shooting. However, we’ll have to wait for further updates to get a sense of what sort of recovery timeline the 23-year-old might be facing.

Meniscus injuries can be treated differently depending on the severity. Even if a player has to go under the knife, the recovery timeline varies drastically depending on whether he has his meniscus repaired or removed. Some players have missed most or all of a season while recovering from a meniscus tear, while others have returned within a month or two.

Murphy is entering the third year of his rookie scale contract and will become extension-eligible for the first time during the 2024 offseason. While a big performance this season could benefit him financially, the Pelicans presumably envision him as part of their future and will prioritize his long-term health over his short-term availability.