Pelicans Rumors

Pelicans’ Trey Murphy Targeting Monday Season Debut

November 10th, 2024 at 1:41pm CST by Earnest Marshall

NOVEMBER 10: Murphy told reporters today that he expects to play on Monday, while head coach Willie Green said the team wants to ensure Murphy makes it through shootaround without any setbacks before he’s officially cleared, tweets Andrew Lopez of ESPN.

Murphy will be officially listed as questionable for Monday’s contest, but the expectation is that he’ll be upgraded tomorrow if all goes to plan, Lopez adds.

NOVEMBER 9: Pelicans wing Trey Murphy is targeting Monday against the Nets for his season debut from a hamstring injury that has sidelined him since early October, NBA insider Chris B. Haynes reports (Twitter link).

We noted on Thursday that Murphy was recently upgraded from out to doubtful on the injury report, signaling that he was nearing a return.

The 3-7 Pelicans were expected to be a playoff contender this season, but they’ve dealt with a plethora of injuries in their backcourt and wing position groups. Murphy, Jordan Hawkins, Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum and Herbert Jones are among the players who have faced or are currently facing multi-week absences. Zion Williamson has also missed time.

Without some of their key contributors, they’ve had to rely on their depth in the early parts of the season. Two-way waiver claim Brandon Boston Jr. has started three games, impressing and averaging 12.7 points per game on a .508/.391/.875 shooting line in the early part of the season. Jose Alvarado, Javonte Green and Jaylen Nowell have also received significant playing time.

Murphy broke out over the past two seasons after being drafted with the No. 17 overall pick in 2021. Since his rookie season, he’s averaged 14.6 points while shooting 39.4% on 6.9 three-point attempts per game in 136 appearances. He agreed to a four-year, $112MM extension before the season.

Having Murphy back should help the Pelicans take a step toward regaining their footing in the Western Conference.

Zion Williamson Out Indefinitely With Hamstring Strain

November 9th, 2024 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson has been diagnosed with a left hamstring strain, the team announced today (via Twitter). Williamson underwent imaging on Saturday that confirmed the diagnosis.

According to the Pelicans, Williamson will be out indefinitely, with further updates provided as appropriate. While the club didn’t provide any sort of recovery timeline for the former No. 1 overall pick, it sounds like it’ll be a week-to-week injury rather than a day-to-day issue. Shams Charania of ESPN says (via Twitter) that Williamson will be reevaluated “in the coming weeks.”

As we noted on Friday, Williamson has missed three of New Orleans’ past four games with three different injury designations. He was sidelined by right hamstring tightness on Sunday, right thigh soreness on Monday, and left hamstring tightness on Friday.

It sounds like the latest ailment is the most significant of the bunch. It’s the same hamstring that Williamson injured in last season’s play-in tournament game — that injury forced him to sit out the entire first round of the playoffs, which contributed to the Pelicans’ quick postseason exit.

Williamson’s absence is the latest blow in what has been a brutal stretch of injury luck for the Pelicans during the season’s opening weeks. Nearly every one of the team’s starters or top reserves has been affected by some sort of multi-week health problem.

Dejounte Murray (fractured left hand) has been out since opening night; CJ McCollum (right adductor strain) and Herbert Jones (right shoulder strain) have each missed six consecutive games and remain sidelined; Jordan Hawkins suffered a low back strain on Wednesday that’s expected to keep him on the shelf for a week or two; and Trey Murphy has missed all 10 games so far this fall due to a hamstring strain of his own, though he’s targeting Monday for his return.

With Williamson unavailable, frontcourt players like Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Yves Missi, Daniel Theis, and Trey Jemison are all candidates for additional playing time.

Assuming they expect Murray, McCollum, and Jones to remain out for a couple more weeks, the Pelicans should soon be eligible for a hardship exception, which would allow them to temporarily carry more than the maximum allowable 15 players on standard contracts.

Injury Notes: Raptors, Zion, Morant, Melton, Vassell

November 8th, 2024 at 5:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors rookie Ja’Kobe Walter, who missed the preseason and the first five games of the regular season with a sprained right AC joint, has re-sprained that joint and will be reevaluated in a week, tweets Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca.

It’s not all bad news on the injury front for Toronto though. Rookie forward Jonathan Mogbo is listed as probable to play on Saturday after exiting Wednesday’s game with a hip pointer, while starting point guard Immanuel Quickley has been upgraded to questionable after missing the last eight games with a pelvic contusion (Twitter link via Murphy).

There’s optimism Quickley will be back in action this weekend, either on Saturday vs. the Clippers or Sunday vs. the Lakers, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

Pelicans star Zion Williamson was ruled out for Friday’s game against Orlando about 90 minutes before tip-off (Twitter link via the team). As Christian Clark of NOLA.com notes (via Twitter), Williamson has now missed three of the team’s past four games with three different injury designations. He was sidelined by right hamstring tightness on Sunday, right thigh soreness on Monday, and left hamstring tightness today. With Zion out, the injury-plagued Pelicans are running out a starting lineup of Jose Alvarado, Brandon Boston, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, and Yves Missi alongside Brandon Ingram, tweets Clark.
After leaving Wednesday’s win due to hip and hamstring discomfort, Grizzlies star Ja Morant will miss Friday’s contest vs. Washington due to right hip soreness. The point guard will undergo more imaging on Saturday to assess the severity of his injury and determine a return timeline, head coach Taylor Jenkins told reporters today (Twitter link via Michael Wallace of Grizzlies.com).
Warriors guard De’Anthony Melton, who has missed five consecutive games due to a low back strain, has been cleared to return for Friday’s showdown vs. the 9-0 Cavaliers, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic (Twitter link). Draymond Green (right knee contusion) and Brandin Podziemski (illness) will also be available for Golden State, giving the team a fully healthy roster (Twitter link via Slater).
As expected, Devin Vassell remains on track to make his season debut for the Spurs on Saturday after nine games while recovering from foot surgery. The team has listed him as probable to play vs. Utah, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News (Twitter link).

Jordan Hawkins Out 1-2 Weeks With Low Back Strain

November 8th, 2024 at 12:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Jordan Hawkins has suffered a low back strain that will keep him out of action for one to two weeks, the Pelicans announced (via Twitter). The second-year shooting guard will undergo a program of treatment and rehabilitation.

Hawkins, the 14th selection in the 2023 draft, appeared in 67 games as a rookie, averaging 7.8 PPG in 17.3 minutes per night while shooting 38.2% from the field and 36.6% from three-point range. His role has been expanded this season, at least in part because of a wave of injuries on New Orleans’ roster, and he has responded by increasing his scoring to 16.3 PPG in 30.3 minutes per game with .408/.365/.931 shooting splits.

Hawkins missed Monday’s game with Portland due to low back tightness and was listed as questionable ahead of Wednesday’s contest against Cleveland. He played 19 minutes, but shot just 1-of-7 from the field and was limited to seven points.

The Pelicans are already without Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy, CJ McCollum and Herbert Jones, who are all sidelined with multi-week injuries. Zion Williamson sat out Monday with soreness in his right thigh, but was able to return and play 29 minutes against the Cavaliers.

New Orleans has four games on its schedule over the next week. Hawkins would miss seven games if he’s able to return for the November 22 contest against Golden State, which is part of the in-season tournament.

Southwest Notes: Whitmore, Green, Sengun, Morant, Zion, Paul

November 7th, 2024 at 8:48pm CST by Earnest Marshall

The Rockets are assigning last year’s No. 20 overall pick Cam Whitmore to their G League affiliate, Rio Grande Valley Vipers, Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan Feigen reports (Twitter link).

Whitmore played a significant role for the Rockets in the second half of last season. In total, he appeared in 47 games (two starts) as a rookie and averaged an impressive 12.3 points and 3.8 rebounds in 18.7 minutes per contest while shooting 35.9% from three on 4.7 attempts per game.

Whitmore began this season in the rotation, averaging 7.3 PPG in 13.6 MPG across the team’s first four games. However, with the second-year forward shooting just 38.7% from the field and not making a three-pointer until his fifth game, he fell out of the rotation and received a DNP-CD on Monday, then only received late-game minutes in a 27-point blowout on Wednesday.

Rookie Reed Sheppard‘s playing time has increased a bit as Whitmore’s has decreased, so he appears to be continuing to build a role in the rotation. It’s unclear what Houston’s exact plan with Whitmore is, but the Rockets’ hope is that he’ll find his shot in the G League, like he did last year when he made 38.9% of 10.1 three-point attempts per game with the development team.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

The Rockets awarded Jalen Green with a three-year, $106MM extension before the season, which came on the heels of a strong second half last season. Now, it looks as though the 2021 No. 2 overall pick is building on last season’s breakout, having averaged 22.6 points per game with a .382 3PT% through eight games this fall. With both he and 2021 classmate Alperen Sengun (No. 16 overall) having agreed to big extensions last month, Green has lofty expectations for the pair, Kelly Iko of The Athletic writes. “I love playing with [Sengun],” Green said. “We’ve had our ups and downs, I’ve played terrible, he’s been good the whole season — it was really me who was trying to find myself from a whole new system standpoint. The games that we won and both of us scored well, those are the games that will come when it’s playoff season. You see how [Nikola] Jokic and Jamal Murray are — I’m not saying we’re like them but they compare [Sengun] to Jokic all the time. So why can’t I be something similar to Jamal? Not saying I want to be, but someone that can get off too. It’s a two-man threat every night.“
Grizzlies star Ja Morant missed almost all of last season due to suspension and injury, but he’s back now and helping push Memphis toward being more competitive than it was last year. Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic writes that even though the Western Conference landscape has changed since Morant was last fully healthy, he still has the utmost belief in his team. “Still confident,” the point guard said. “Two years ago passed. I don’t even know who won the championship two years ago … Two years ago don’t matter. Last year don’t matter either. So all we can focus on is now, and that’s getting our wins and handling our business. Confidence never left.“
Zion Williamson returned to action for the Pelicans on Wednesday after missing two games, then suffered another brief injury scare in the second quarter, Christian Clark of NOLA.com writes. Williamson exited early in the second quarter before returning after halftime. He finished with 29 points and should be fine moving forward.
Trey Murphy is close to returning for the Pelicans after suffering a multi-week hamstring injury in October. According to Clark (Twitter link), Murphy was upgraded to doubtful for Friday’s game against the Magic. While it sounds like he’ll likely miss that game, it appears as though his return isn’t far off.
The Spurs brought in Chris Paul this offseason to serve as a veteran leader and mentor for their young players, including Victor Wembanyama. Paul spoke about his role with Sportskeeda’s Mark Medina (Twitter link). “You have to show guys that you can hoop,” Paul said. “I don’t go in there and try to be nobody’s coach and nobody’s daddy. First and foremost, I hoop.“

Largest Trade Exceptions Available This Season

November 6th, 2024 at 2:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Ahead of the NBA’s 2025 trade deadline, it’s worth keeping in mind which teams hold traded player exceptions that could come in handy to grease the wheels on an in-season deal.

As we explain in our glossary, a traded player exception allows a team to take on salary in a trade without sending out any salary in return. The amount of the exception (plus $250K for non-apron teams) is the amount of salary the team is permitted to take back without salary-matching – either in a single deal or in multiple trades – for one year.

For instance, a team with a $10MM trade exception could acquire a player earning $4MM and a second player earning $6MM without having to worry about sending out any outgoing salary.

In recent years, sizable traded player exceptions have served as wild cards that helped accommodate both pre-deadline and offseason deals. For example, after creating a $9.5MM trade exception when they sent Royce O’Neale to the Suns ahead of the 2024 trade deadline, the Nets used that TPE to acquire Ziaire Williams and a future draft pick in an offseason trade that allowed Memphis to shed some salary.

Many trade exceptions expire without being used, but as our tracker shows, there are several sizable ones available this season that could be useful when trade season begins in earnest.

Here are the 15 biggest trade exceptions around the NBA for now, along with their expiry dates in parentheses:

Atlanta Hawks: $25,266,266 (7/7/25)
Brooklyn Nets: $23,300,000 (7/7/25)
Chicago Bulls: $17,506,232 (7/8/25)
Dallas Mavericks: $16,193,183 (7/7/25)
Memphis Grizzlies: $12,600,000 (2/3/25)
Washington Wizards: $12,402,000 (2/10/25)
New Orleans Pelicans: $9,900,000 (7/7/25)
Minnesota Timberwolves: $8,780,488 (7/7/25)
Portland Trail Blazers: $6,875,000 (7/7/25)
Miami Heat: $6,477,319 (1/23/25)
Sacramento Kings: $6,341,464 (6/30/25)
Memphis Grizzlies: $6,133,005 (7/21/25)
Sacramento Kings: $5,893,768 (7/8/25)
New Orleans Pelicans: $5,722,116 (1/17/25)
Denver Nuggets: $5,250,000 (7/7/25)

A number of these trade exceptions are more likely to be used next offseason, when teams could have more cap flexibility, than during the current season, when so many clubs are within spitting distance of the luxury tax line or a hard cap.

For example, using even a small portion of that $25MM+ exception during the season would push the Hawks‘ team salary into tax territory, but with several contracts coming off their books next summer, they’d be in a better position to take on a big salary at that time.

The exceptions that expire before next offseason are the ones to watch more closely during the season. That $12MM+ Wizards TPE is especially intriguing, since Washington is one of the few teams with plenty of breathing room below the tax threshold. They could use nearly all of that exception at the deadline and still avoid becoming a taxpayer.

The two TPEs listed in italics can’t be used at all, since the Heat are currently operating over the first tax apron, while the Timberwolves are over the second apron. Apron teams are prohibited from using trade exceptions that were generated during the prior season (like Miami’s) or that were created by sending out a player via sign-and-trade (like Minnesota’s).

It’s worth noting that some of these exceptions may be used in a deal that could otherwise be completed using salary matching. For example, a team with a $12MM trade exception that swaps one $10MM player for another could use the exception to take on the incoming player and create a new $10MM exception using the outgoing player.

Given tax and apron considerations, we may see some deals along those lines during the season, since using a TPE in that manner would allow a team to essentially roll it over for another year.

Southwest Notes: Zion, Sengun, Lively, Popovich

November 5th, 2024 at 8:10am CST by Luke Adams

Pelicans forward Zion Williamson didn’t show any signs of suffering an injury in Friday’s win over Indiana, in which he scored a season-high 34 points. However, he was added to the team’s injury report on Sunday due to right hamstring tightness and has now missed two consecutive games, both Pelicans losses, as Christian Clark of NOLA.com details.

“I don’t know exactly how it occurred,” head coach Willie Green said of Williamson’s injury, which was listed on Monday as right thigh soreness. “He showed up. Said he felt a little something. We wanted to make sure we got a look at it.”

Already missing Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Herbert Jones, and Trey Murphy due to longer-term injuries, the Pelicans have had to elevate little-used reserves to the rotation, with Brandon Boston, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, rookie Yves Missi, and newly signed Jaylen Nowell among those playing big minutes this week. The shorthanded team has dropped back-to-back games at home, losing to Atlanta by 15 points on Sunday and to Portland by 18 points on Monday.

While New Orleans badly needs a healthy Williamson back on the court to help end its skid, Green admitted on Monday that he’s not sure what the timeline is for his star forward’s return.

“He was not at the game,” Green told reporters. “Doctor’s orders. Because of the hamstring and quad. We kept him at home tonight.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

After signing a five-year, $185MM rookie scale extension the day before the regular season began, Rockets center Alperen Sengun got off to a slow start this fall, making just 38.6% of his field goal attempts through six games. Prior to Monday’s contest, he made it clear he wasn’t stressing about his low shooting percentage, writes Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “I’m not worried about it. Those shots are easy shots for me,” Sengun said. “They’re shots I used to make all three years. So I think it’s just going to come back and I’m going to make those.” The big man delivered on that promise by scoring 25 points on 11-of-15 shooting in a win over New York on Monday. He also contributed 14 rebounds, five assists, and four blocks in what was his best game of the season so far.
Mavericks center Dereck Lively II, who missed Monday’s loss to Indiana due to a right shoulder sprain, will undergo an MRI on that shoulder, head coach Jason Kidd told reporters. However, sources have expressed optimism that Lively’s injury isn’t significant, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).
Ahead of his second game as the Spurs‘ acting head coach, Mitch Johnson said on Monday that he’s “not at liberty” to discuss Gregg Popovich‘s possible return timeline, but downplayed the seriousness of Popovich’s health issue. “Right now his health is the No. 1 priority,” Johnson said, per Michael C. Wright of ESPN. “We support him in that 100 percent and I talked to him last night. He’s in good spirits. He’s OK, and we can’t wait to have him back.”

Southeast Notes: Da Silva, Daniels, Mann, Sarr

November 4th, 2024 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

Although the Magic are devastated by the oblique injury that will sideline rising star Paolo Banchero for the foreseeable future, the team has managed to find one silver lining, according to Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel, who writes that first-round pick Tristan Da Silva is has gotten the opportunity to play a role with Banchero on the shelf. After four straight DNP-CDs, the rookie had 17 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes of action during Friday’s loss to Cleveland.

“I just think that was a bright spot there, for him to be able to come in and step in and do the things he was able to do,” head coach Jamahl Mosley said after that game.

Mosley was impressed enough with Da Silva’s performance to insert him into Orlando’s starting lineup on Sunday in Dallas. The former Colorado standout wasn’t quite as effective, with just seven points and five rebounds in 31 minutes, though he was only a minus-four in a game the Magic lost by 23 points.

Da Silva earned praise from teammate Franz Wagner, who said it’s been “a lot of fun” playing alongside his rookie teammate and that he’s doing a “great job” so far (Twitter link via Beede).

“I thought he played awesome in Cleveland,” Wagner said. “He’s just keeping the game really simple, making easy plays, and he just understands the game really well. And knows how to play. (He) takes the shot when he’s open, makes a quick decision when he gets it.”

Here’s more from around the Southeast:

Facing their former team in New Orleans on Sunday, Hawks guard Dyson Daniels and big man Larry Nance Jr. both stared down the Pelicans‘ bench after making big shots, notes Lauren Williams of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. While one of Daniels’ gestures toward the bench after a corner three resembled a finger gun (Twitter video link), he told reporters after the game that wasn’t his intent, writes Brett Martel of The Associated Press. “It might have looked like it, but I was just telling them it was worth three points,” Daniels said. “You know, pointing at them all, that’s all it was. I was making sure they all knew how many points it was worth.” As Martel observes, the NBA has fined players in the past for mimicking guns on the court.
While he saw his playing time dwindle during his two-and-a-half seasons in Oklahoma City, point guard Tre Mann said his time playing alongside Thunder ball-handlers like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey helped him learn how to play off the ball more effectively, which has benefited him since his trade to the Hornets. “That helped me develop my all-around game, like making plays other than scoring, being ready to shoot on catch-and-shoots, and hunting those opportunities,” Mann told Grant Afseth of Sportskeeda.com. “Now, playing with guys like LaMelo (Ball) and Brandon (Miller), I can still have an impact even without the ball.” Mann is off to a strong start this fall, having averaged 19.2 points per game on .467/.444/1.000 shooting in six appearances off the bench.
No. 2 overall pick Alex Sarr got off to a bumpy start this season, averaging 8.0 PPG on 29.7% shooting through his first four games, but Saturday’s showing vs. Miami (17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, six rebounds, four blocks, three assists) provided a glimpse of what the Wizards hope he can become, writes Varun Shankar of The Washington Post. “I think it’s just me getting more comfortable as the games go on, realizing where I can attack, how I can be impactful and just transform my game,” Sarr said.

Southwest Notes: Williamson, Ingram, Hawkins, Collins, Sochan

November 3rd, 2024 at 5:33pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy, CJ McCollum and Herbert Jones all sidelined due to injuries, there’s even more pressure on Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram to carry the Pelicans, The Athletic’s William Guillory writes.

New Orleans dropped three straight before defeating Indiana on Friday. Williamson and Ingram combined for 60 points and 17 assists in that victory.

“People always try to tell us that we can’t hoop together,” Williamson said. “Me and him just want to have fun and make it happen. That’s what basketball is all about.”

However, Williamson was a late scratch himself on Sunday due to right hamstring tightness, the team tweets.

We have more from the Southwest Division:

Jordan Hawkins entered Sunday’s action with a 17.3 PPG scoring average in his second NBA season. His Pelicans teammates compare his offensive skills to Hall of Famer Ray Allen, according to Christian Clark of the New Orleans Times Picayune. “He’s got a pretty release,” McCollum said. “It’s fast. It’s a lot like Ray Allen. He always seems to be on balance.” Williamson agrees: “Me and him talk about it a lot. I tell him it reminds me of Ray Allen. Being able to catch and shoot on the move, whether you’re facing the basket or not. Or just a spot-up shot.”
Spurs big man Zach Collins has been fined $2,000 by the NBA for flopping, according to the league (Twitter link). Collins was assessed the flopping fine after a post-game review of a play in which Minnesota’s Julius Randle drove to the basket and made contact with Collins.
Jeremy Sochan has been getting under opponents’ skin. The Spurs believe Sochan has been unburdened this season because he’s no longer tasked with playing the point, according to Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. “It’s part of his game,” center Victor Wembanyama said. “It can also be beneficial sometimes.”

Jaylen Nowell Signs With Pelicans

November 3rd, 2024 at 11:49am CST by Arthur Hill

NOVEMBER 3: The signing is official, the Pelicans announced in a press release.

NOVEMBER 2: The Pelicans will sign free agent guard Jaylen Nowell, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link). It’s a non-guaranteed contract, according to Will Guillory of The Athletic (Twitter link).

New Orleans has been hit hard by early-season injuries, so Nowell will provide some much-needed depth. The team announced Friday that Herbert Jones will miss two-to-four weeks with a right shoulder strain and low-grade tear in his rotator cuff, while CJ McCollum will be sidelined two-to-three weeks with a right adductor strain.

That’s in addition to the loss of Dejounte Murray, who’s expected to miss three-to-five more weeks with a broken hand he suffered on opening night, and Trey Murphy, who’s out with a hamstring strain.

Nowell, 25, was in training camp with the Wizards on an Exhibit 10 contract, but was waived last month. He was listed on the camp roster for Washington’s G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go.

Nowell played nine games for Memphis last season on a pair of 10-day contracts he signed in late November and early December. He spent most of the year with the Stockton Kings in the G League before returning to the NBA on a pair of two-way deals with Detroit in April.

Nowell was drafted by the Timberwolves with the 43rd pick in 2019 and played his first four NBA seasons in Minnesota. He holds career averages of 8.9 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 197 games.

The Pelicans have a roster spot open, so they won’t need a corresponding move before finalizing the contract with Nowell. The team has been using a 14-man roster because it’s operating above the luxury tax line and about $4.4MM below its hard cap.

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