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Pelicans Notes: Travel Issues, Williamson, Slump, Murphy

February 1st, 2023 at 4:28pm CST by Luke Adams

The inclement weather that grounded the Pistons in Dallas and forced a postponement of Wednesday’s Pistons/Wizards game is also wreaking havoc on the Pelicans, who are scheduled to play in Dallas on Thursday.

After facing the Nuggets in Denver on Tuesday, the Pelicans have been unable to fly into Dallas on Wednesday and now intend to stay another night in Denver, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com (Twitter link). A source tells Clark that the Pels’ plan is to fly into Dallas on Thursday in advance of the evening game vs. the Mavericks.

According to Marc Stein (Twitter link), the Pelicans – who practiced in Denver on Wednesday – had been considering a handful of options to get to Dallas, including a “less-than-inviting” scenario that would have seen them fly into Oklahoma City today and then take a bus the rest of the way. Flying on Thursday is the best-case scenario of those options, Stein adds (via Twitter).

Here’s more on the Pelicans:

  • After being limited to stationary shooting and dribbling, Zion Williamson was cleared on Tuesday to begin running as part of his rehab from a right hamstring strain, Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report said on TNT’s Tuesday night broadcast (Twitter video link). The Pelicans plan to reevaluate Williamson next Tuesday, but don’t want to set a timeline yet for his return to action.
  • It was a brutal month for the Pelicans, who were a half-game behind Denver for the Western Conference’s top seed when January began and now find themselves holding the last play-in spot after losing 13 of 16 games, Clark writes for NOLA.com. The team has been without star forwards Williamson and Brandon Ingram for extended periods this winter, but doesn’t want to use that as an excuse. “No one feels sorry for us,” Larry Nance Jr. said. “That’s the reality of it. No Z, no B for an extended period of time. Threw off our rhythm a little bit. It’s hard to pick back up. After being first in the West, we have a target on our back. This schedule has been pretty unforgiving. We have to throw the first punch.”
  • Pelicans wing Trey Murphy confirmed that he has accepted an invitation to participate in this year’s Slam Dunk Contest in Salt Lake City and tells William Guillory of The Athletic that he’s looking forward to trying to make his mark on the event. “I’m pretty excited. There are definitely some high flyers I’m going against,” Murphy said of reported participants Kenyon Martin Jr., Shaedon Sharpe, and Mac McClung. “I know those guys are going to come with some great dunks. I’ve seen some of the dunks they’ve done in the past. That just makes me want to come in and do even better.”
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NBA Announces Player Pool For Rising Stars Event

January 31st, 2023 at 1:22pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA officially unveiled the 28-player pool for this year’s Rising Stars event on Tuesday, making the announcement via the NBA App. The following players made the cut:

Rookies:

Sophomores:

G League players:

As was the case last season, the Rising Stars event will consist of four teams and three games. The seven G League players will comprise one team, coached by longtime NBA guard Jason Terry. The other 21 players will be drafted to three squads coached by former NBA stars Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, and Deron Williams.

The four teams will be split into two first-round matchups and the winners of those two games will face one another for the Rising Stars championship. The two semifinals will be played to a target score of 40 points, while the final will be played to a target score of 25 points.

All three contests will take place on Friday, February 17 as part of All-Star weekend in Salt Lake City. The NBA’s full press release with more information on the event can be found right here.

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Southwest Notes: McCollum, Murphy, Tate, Popovich

January 29th, 2023 at 2:21pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Pelicans star guard CJ McCollum, acquired just before last season’s trade deadline, reflected on his first calendar year spent with his new team, writes Howard Beck of Sports Illustrated.

“It’s been the most complex year of my life,” McCollum says. “It’s been a lot of character building, a lot of learning, a lot of trial and error, and a lot of meditation, therapy sessions with my therapist. And a lot of just heart-to-hearts with my family, with my wife, just trying to figure out next steps and what we want to accomplish in this life.”

As Beck notes, New Orleans finds itself at a crossroads, having slipped to fifth place in the West following long-term injuries to star forwards Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. Ingram has returned to the Pelicans after a two-month absence. The 26-24 Pelicans are currently on a seven-game losing streak.

“It’s definitely been tough,” McCollum says of having a more featured role without the star forwards. “It’s been a unique challenge. And I’ve had conversations with [coach Willie Green] about it. And obviously there’s a different type of load, a different type of usage, when BI and Zion are playing.”

This season, McCollum is averaging 21.3 PPG, 5.8 APG, 4.5 RPG and 1.0 SPG across 45 contests for the Pelicans. He is posting a shooting line of .431/.388/.783.

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

  • The league has invited Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III to participate in this season’s All-Star game dunk contest, sources inform Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link). It is unclear as of this writing if Murphy has accepted the invitation.
  • Teams are inquiring about the availability of young Rockets swingman Jae’Sean Tate, Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports said on his podcast Please Don’t Aggregate This (hat tip to HoopsHype for the transcription). “The Houston Rockets are a clear seller,” Fischer said. “Today I heard Jae’Sean Tate is a player that has has received a lot of incoming calls.” Tate, 27, is in the first-year of a three-season, $20.6MM deal he signed with Houston. The 6’4″ forward is averaging 7.7 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.1 APG and 0.8 SPG in a reduced role this season.
  • Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich is making sure to keep his young players motivated despite the rebuilding team’s increasing loss tally, reports Jeff McDonald of The San Antonio Express-News. “There are ups and downs in your life probably, and what do you do? You move on,” Popovich said. “You just go. I don’t pull out this piece of paper or this formula and go, ‘This is how I’m going to act because we didn’t make the playoffs.’”
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Pacers Rumors: Power Forward, Duarte, Collins, Turner, Bitadze

January 12th, 2023 at 10:57am CST by Luke Adams

The growing sense among rival teams is that the 23-19 Pacers could be a buyer, rather than a seller, at this season’s trade deadline, writes Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports.

Fischer acknowledges that Indiana’s trade deadline outlook could certainly be altered if Tyrese Haliburton‘s foot injury causes him to miss an extended period. Fischer also adds a caveat to the team’s potential status as a buyer — the Pacers won’t be in the market for short-term veterans like Jae Crowder or Bojan Bogdanovic, but will have an eye out for players who could be long-term fits.

According to Fischer, power forward is the spot the Pacers would most like to upgrade. Indiana was high on Keegan Murray prior to the 2022 draft, and while the club was happy to ultimately land Bennedict Mathurin at No. 6, missing out on Murray means the power forward position remains a priority going forward.

If they want to get aggressive, the Pacers will have a couple extra 2023 first-round picks to dangle in trade talks, having acquired Cleveland’s and Boston’s first-rounders. Additionally, while Indiana viewed Chris Duarte as off limits at one point, multiple front office sources tell Fischer that the team has been more willing to discuss him in recent talks.

Here’s more on the Pacers’ plans:

  • Indiana has had internal discussions about the possibility of pursuing Hawks power forward John Collins, according to Fischer, who notes that Duarte and draft capital might appeal to Atlanta. The Hawks previously pitched the idea of trading Collins to the Pelicans for Trey Murphy and a first-round pick, Fischer explains. The fact that the Pacers could absorb Collins into their cap room without sending out matching salary could also intrigue the Hawks, who are right around the luxury tax line.
  • The Pacers and Myles Turner‘s representatives at CAA continue to discuss a possible renegotiation-and-extension for the veteran center, sources tell Yahoo Sports. Fischer suggests that the four-year, $133MM offer sheet Indiana gave Deandre Ayton in July would be an “obvious benchmark” for Turner’s side to use in contract negotiations.
  • Trade rumors involving Turner have slowed down as of late, Fischer observes. Teams like the Hornets, Pelicans, Mavericks, and Lakers have been viewed as potential suitors in the past, but don’t appear to be targeting Turner at this point. If the 26-year-old ends up back on the trade block, the Knicks, Raptors, and Clippers could be fits, Fischer writes.
  • The most likely Pacers center to be traded is Goga Bitadze, according to Fischer, who hears from sources that the club would be willing to work with Bitadze’s representatives to find him a new team. Daniel Theis is due back from injury soon and Bitadze hasn’t had much of a role even with Theis out. The fourth-year center also hasn’t been interested in accepting an assignment to the Pacers’ G League team in Fort Wayne, says Fischer.
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Southwest Notes: Zion, Murphy, Grizzlies, Silas

November 19th, 2022 at 9:51pm CST by Arthur Hill

After sitting out a week with a right foot contusion, Pelicans forward Zion Williamson said he’ll “definitely” be ready for Monday’s game, writes Christian Clark of NOLA.com. Williamson suffered the injury last Saturday in a game against the Rockets when he stepped on Usman Garuba‘s foot on a drive to the basket. Williamson landed awkwardly and awoke with pain the next day.

“I felt it a little bit, but it wasn’t nothing for me to be like, ‘This is really something crazy,’” Williamson said. “I didn’t feel it til I woke up the next morning. I was like, ‘Man.’ Felt like I could barely walk on it. Went and got all the scans. It was a simple bone bruise.”

The incident brought back bad memories for Williamson, who missed all of last season with a fracture in his right foot. He has managed to avoid serious injury so far this year and is averaging 23.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 11 games.

“There was a moment when I was like, ‘I ain’t trying to go through this again. I just went through it,’” Williamson said. “Scans were positive outside of the bruise. I’m straight.”

There’s more from the Soutwest Division:

  • Trey Murphy, who took Williamson’s place in the Pelicans‘ starting lineup, is also dealing with a foot issue, Clark adds. Murphy left Friday’s game after 12 minutes with a contusion in his right foot. “Kind of rolled his ankle a little bit,” coach Willie Green explained. “All his imaging checked out fine. He’ll be day-to-day. We’ll evaluate him and see where he is.”
  • The Grizzlies are counting on their depth to sustain them until Desmond Bane and Ja Morant are able to return, per Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal. Bane is sidelined with a sprained toe, and Morant suffered a sprained left ankle Friday night. “It is frustrating, but it’s part of the game,” Dillon Brooks said. “We still got guys ready to play, ready to be active and have their shot. It was a tough one, but at the same time, though, next man up.”
  • Rockets coach Stephen Silas remains optimistic despite a disappointing start to the season, according to Brian T. Smith of The Houston Chronicle. Houston is 3-13 and in danger of posting the league’s worst record for the third straight year, but Silas is confident that patience will eventually pay off for a roster filled with young players. “I was with LeBron (James) in his first year and I was with (Stephen Curry) in his first year and I was with Luka (Doncic) in his first year,” he said, “and things were uneven and hard, but you have to go through it. I am more than prepared to go through it and will be happy to see the results of it.”
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Pelicans Pick Up Options For Kira Lewis, Trey Murphy

October 27th, 2022 at 5:17pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Pelicans have announced in a press release that they have picked up their 2023/24 rookie scale contract options on third-year guard Kira Lewis Jr. and second-year swingman Trey Murphy III.

Lewis, a 6’1″ point guard out of Alabama, was drafted with the No. 13 pick in 2020 by the Pelicans. He continues to recover from a torn ACL and sprained MCL, which he suffered in December 2021. In his 24 games last season prior to the injury, Lewis posted averages of 5.9 PPG, 2.0 APG, and 1.6 RPG across 14.2 MPG as a bench player. As far as his rehabilitation goes, Lewis has progressed to 3-on-3 scrimmages with his teammates.

Lewis’ 2023/24 option is worth $5,722,116. He’ll now be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2023 offseason.

The 6’9″ Murphy was selected with the No. 17 pick out of Virginia in 2021. Thus far this season, the 22-year-old has taken a significant leap from his rookie output in 2021/22. Murphy’s minutes have more than doubled, from 13.9 MPG to 30.0 MPG. His other counting stats have taken major jumps, too. In four games this season, during which he has mostly operated as a reserve behind star forwards Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, Murphy is averaging 15.5 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 1.0 APG, and 1.0 SPG.

Murphy’s $3,359,280 salary for 2023/24 is now fully guaranteed. The Pelicans will have to make a decision on his fourth-year option for ’24/25 next fall.

New Orleans is young and deep this season, and has gotten off to a terrific 3-1 start against some tough competition. Murphy at least has emerged as a big part of head coach Willie Green‘s rotation.

Teams must make a determination on their eligible players’ rookie scale contract options by this coming Monday, October 31. A full list of players whose teams have exercised their rookie scale contract options is viewable here.

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Southwest Notes: Murphy, LaRavia, Porter, Spurs

August 28th, 2022 at 10:22am CST by Arthur Hill

Like most rookies, Trey Murphy faced a difficult adjustment to the NBA, writes Ethan Fuller of Basketball News. After being a star in college, the 17th pick in last year’s draft saw minimal playing time during his first few months with the Pelicans. That changed in March and April as the team went on a late-season run and advanced past the play-in tournament, but Murphy admits the start of his career was challenging.

“Those times when I was struggling [and] wasn’t playing a lot — that’s when I really learned a lot about myself and just staying the course, because the NBA is so much of a mental aspect and a mental game that you have to worry about,” Murphy said. “You could be doing a lot of good stuff physically and on the court, but if your mentals aren’t right, there’s gonna be a lot of stuff that’s happening that won’t affect you in a positive way.”

Murphy eventually became a regular part of the rotation in New Orleans, averaging 19.5 minutes per game after March 9 while contributing 9.7 points and 3.4 rebounds and shooting 43.8% from three-point range. Heading into his second NBA season, Murphy has increased his weight to 215 pounds and showed in Summer League that he’s willing to take on contact.

“I’m just getting a lot smarter too,” he said. “Just knowing what’s coming next, so you’re able to brace for things; you’re able to absorb force as well as distribute force when need be.”

There’s more from the Southwest Division:

  • Jake LaRavia fizzled out during Summer League after sinking four three-pointers in his first game, but the Grizzlies aren’t concerned about his lack of production, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Kennedy Chandler was the only legitimate point guard on the team this summer, and the Grizzlies are confident that LaRavia will get plenty of open shots playing alongside Ja Morant.
  • The Rockets and Kevin Porter Jr. are both hoping to reach an extension agreement before the new season starts, Kelly Iko of the Athletic states in a look at players around the league who have the most to prove. Whether the extension happens or not, Houston is counting on Porter to prove that he can be the team’s long-term answer at point guard.
  • The Spurs appear headed for their worst season in 25 years and will need some good fortune to turn things around quickly, writes Mike Finger of The San Antonio Express-News.
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Southwest Notes: Wright, Murphy, Tate, Abdelfattah

July 17th, 2022 at 4:02pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Power forward Moses Wright is making an impact while playing for the Mavericks‘ Summer League team, writes Dwain Price of Mavs.com.

The 6’8″ big man averaged a fairly pedestrian 8.5 PPG on 5-of-16 shooting and 5.0 RPG across the Mavericks’ first two Summer League contests, missed the team’s Tuesday matchup against the Suns, and then returned reinvigorated to play the Bucks on Thursday. He poured in 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor and grabbed 11 rebounds as a reserve.

Wright, signed to a two-way contract during the 2021/22 season with Dallas, is currently an unrestricted free agent.

“I think he was the most impactful player in the game,” Mavericks Summer League head coach George Galanopoulos said. “When he’s playing like that – just high energy and active motor, and with an edge and a disposition about him and that mentality — he’s one of the better players in the gym wherever he goes.”

There’s more out of the Southwest Division:

  • Second-year Pelicans small forward Trey Murphy showed signs of improvement during his 2022 Summer League stint, writes William Guillory of The Athletic. Murphy, the No. 17 pick out of Virginia in 2021, averaged 26.5 PPG across the only two Las Vegas games New Orleans opted to play him. The Pelicans are hoping that Murphy, who evolved into a deep-bench option on a playoff-bound 2021/22 club by the end of his rookie season, will continue to develop this season. “At the end of the day, I know the stuff I’ve been working on,” Murphy said. “Just creating off the bounce and things like that… I’m not too worried about the shot. If my shot’s falling and I’m getting to the basket like I was tonight, that’ll be a pretty good recipe.”
  • In an interview with Michael Scotto of HoopsHype, Rockets forward Jae’Sean Tate discussed how his confidence in his own NBA-caliber abilities helped him while playing abroad. “I’ve always thought I was an NBA player,” Tate said. “There was never a question of if I was good enough. I just knew that I was going to have to be able to put myself in a position to get to my dream. I think [agent] EJ Kusnyer did a good job of just putting me in certain situations that allowed me to be successful, allowed me to show my worth, and allowed me to be me while bringing what I do to a team every step of the way.” After going undrafted out of Ohio State in 2018, the 6’4″ small forward first signed on with Belgian club the Antwerp Giants during the 2018/19 season. He then headed to Australia to play for NBL club the Sydney Kings. He was named to the 2020 All-NBL First Team before joining the Rockets in 2020.
  • Rockets assistant coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah credits Houston with updating his thinking about shot selection, writes Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle. Abdelfattah worked his way through the ranks with the club’s NBAGL affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and eventually joined Houston’s NBA club as an assistant under Stephen Silas. “Offensively, I’m a big believer of shot selection, taking efficient shots,” Abdelfattah said. “It goes back to taking mid-range shots or not taking them, goes back to getting to the rim, getting to the free-throw line… I like to let the guys play with a lot of freedom and maybe take a couple of what some would call questionable shots or moves. “
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Pelicans Notes: Offseason, Jones, Murphy, Alvarado, Zion

April 29th, 2022 at 11:11am CST by Luke Adams

When the Pelicans got off to a 1-12 start this season, it looked like the team was headed for another lottery finish and some difficult offseason questions. Instead, New Orleans managed to turn things around, earned a playoff berth via the play-in tournament, and gave the NBA-best Suns all they could handle in the first round of the playoffs.

“To get to the playoffs, we continued to believe in ourselves. Continued to get better, believing in this organization,” Brandon Ingram said after Thursday’s Game 6 loss, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic. “New coach. New players. Figuring it out so fast. You don’t think about it in the moment because we just lost, but we definitely came a long way from the beginning of the season.”

As Guillory writes, the first-round loss to Phoenix was a tough one, given how competitive the Pelicans made the series (they were outscored by a total margin of 668-659 across six games). But after laying a strong foundation of young talent, the franchise looks poised to remain competitive and continue improving in the coming years.

There are still some pressing offseason questions facing the Pelicans, with both Zion Williamson and Jaxson Hayes eligible for rookie scale extensions, but all of the team’s young players are under contract for 2022/23, Guillory notes. And while there has been plenty of speculation about Williamson’s long-term commitment to New Orleans, the team couldn’t have done much more this spring to make him want to be part of the future.

Here’s more on the Pelicans:

  • The Pelicans wouldn’t have gotten as far as they did this season without the contributions they received from a trio of unheralded rookies, according to Andrew Lopez of ESPN, who spotlights Herbert Jones, Trey Murphy, and Jose Alvarado. Jones emerged as a legitimate All-Defensive candidate, Murphy knocked down 38.2% of his three-point attempts, and Alvarado provided energy and hustle plays off the bench. All three players are under contract for multiple years going forward.
  • In his Pelicans offseason preview, ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Insider link) examines the big decision the team must make on a potential Williamson extension and points out that veterans like CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr. will be extension-eligible this summer as well.
  • Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype also looks ahead to the Williamson contract negotiations and the other key roster decisions facing the Pelicans this summer. As Gozlan writes, New Orleans doesn’t have much breathing room below the projected luxury tax line, which will affect the club’s ability to make full use of its mid-level exception.
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Pelicans Notes: Lineup, Griffin, Ingram, Alvarado

April 19th, 2022 at 8:01am CST by Luke Adams

The Pelicans‘ “jumbo” lineups weren’t working in Game 1 of their first-round series vs. the Suns, writes William Guillory of The Athletic. The team found success in the second half of the regular season by starting Jaxson Hayes at power forward alongside center Jonas Valanciunas, but the two big men had matching plus-minus ratings of -11 on Sunday, the worst marks of any player on either team.

Hayes ended up playing just 11 minutes, with Trey Murphy coming off the bench to play 26 minutes. New Orleans was a plus-six when Murphy was on the court and the team’s offense was functioning better, says Guillory. However, head coach Willie Green told reporters on Monday that he’s not planning to change his starting lineup, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link).

“Not at the moment,” Green said. “I think as a group, we didn’t have a great first half. That wasn’t one individual, that was us as a team. We have to be better. We have to do the things we do better, harder and with more force and see where we are after that.”

Here’s more on the Pelicans:

  • Pelicans VP of basketball operations David Griffin has made some mistakes since being hired to head up the team’s front office in 2019, but he deserves credit for putting together a team that made the playoffs even without Zion Williamson available all season, Rod Walker of NOLA.com opines. Walker believes the Pelicans look like a potential top-three squad in the West with a fully healthy Williamson.
  • Griffin’s faith in Brandon Ingram as a franchise leader on and off the court has been rewarded, according to Scott Kushner of NOLA.com, who points to Ingram’s performances in play-in wins over the Spurs (27 points) and Clippers (30 points) as indicators of the forward’s ability to handle the spotlight and step up in big games.
  • Pelicans rookie guard Jose Alvarado is joining Puerto Rico’s national team, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). As Charania observes, Alvarado will get a chance to face Team USA this summer in qualifiers for the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
  • Jason Quick of The Athletic takes a look at the long-standing bond between Willie Green and his first-round coaching rival Monty Williams. After the two men were teammates in Philadelphia, Green played for Williams in New Orleans and then was an assistant on his Suns staff. “Monty and I are not just friends,” Green told Quick. “We are like … that’s like my older brother. I look up to Monty.”
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