Trey Murphy III Out for Pelicans' Season with Shoulder Injury from Diving for Ball

The New Orleans Pelicans announced Monday night that forward Trey Murphy III will miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season due to a torn labrum and partially torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder.

Murphy suffered the injuries, along with a dislocated shoulder, during the first quarter of Monday's 127-81 loss to the Detroit Pistons while diving for a loose ball.

The 24-year-old Murphy was averaging career highs across the board this season with 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 3.0 three-pointers made and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 45.4 percent from the field and 36.1 percent from beyond the arc.

Originally the No. 17 overall pick in the 2021 NBA draft out of Virginia, Murphy has spent his entire four-year NBA career in New Orleans.

After playing sparingly as a rookie, Murphy became a key contributor for the Pels over the next couple of seasons, averaging 14.5 points per game in 2022-23 and 14.8 points per contest in 2023-24.

Murphy averaged a career-high 35 minutes per game this season, which aided him in becoming the Pelicans' second-leading scorer behind Zion Williamson.

Part of Murphy's ascent undoubtedly had to do with so many of the Pelicans' other key players missing time due to injury, including Williamson, Dejounte Murray, Herbert Jones and Brandon Ingram prior to trading the latter to the Toronto Raptors.

Murphy's spectacular individual season did not lead to overall team success for the Pelicans, as they own the second-worst record in the Western Conference and the fourth-worst record in the NBA at 18-51.

With Murphy out for the final 13 games, things only figure to get worse for the Pelicans down the stretch.

Of course, the Pelicans are incentivized to lose more than they are to win at this point since every defeat could improve their lottery odds and their chances to landing a top player in the 2025 NBA draft.

This year's draft is stacked with elite talent, including Duke's Cooper Flagg, the Rutgers duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, and Baylor's VJ Edgecombe.

Adding any of them to a core of Williamson, Murphy, Murray, Jones, C.J. McCollum and Yves Missi could go a long way toward making the Pelicans competitive again next season provided the front office doesn't tear down the roster during the offseason.