The apparently strained relationship between Dejounte Murray and the New Orleans Pelicans took another turn Friday.
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relationship → strain → turn
Representatives for the All-Star guard at Klutch Sports requested a trade, prompting the team to say it would evaluate potential opportunities.
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it → request → opportunities
"Today, Dejounte Murray’s representatives informed us of his request to be traded," the Pelicans said in a statement.
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Pelicans → inform → statement
"We will evaluate potential trade opportunities that are in the best interest of our organization."
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that → evaluate → organization
Murray, 30, was ruled out Friday night against the Memphis Grizzlies due to a left ankle sprain.
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Murray → rule → sprain
Pelicans coach Jamahl Mosley said Murray was not at Smoothie King Center.
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Murray → say → Center
"He’s not in the building, from what I’ve been told," Mosley said.
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Mosley → ’ → what
The Pelicans acquired Murray in a June 2024 trade with the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for two first-round picks, Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and E.J. Liddell.
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Pelicans → acquire → picks
David Griffin, then serving as the Pelicans’ executive vice president of basketball operations, viewed Murray as a defender and playmaker who could provide ball-handling help for Zion Williamson, but he never approached the play that had earned him All-Star honors in 2022.
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that → serve → 2022
Murray’s tenure with the Pelicans was dogged by injuries.
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tenure → dog → injuries
He broke his hand in the 2024 season opener and then suffered a season-ending Achilles injury in January 2025.
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He → break → January
Over the last three seasons, Murray has played just 54 games with New Orleans, averaging 16.6 points, 6.6 assists and 5.9 rebounds.
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Murray → play → points
The Pelicans have gone 1-8 with him in the lineup.
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Pelicans → go → lineup
He has a player option for $30.8 million next season.
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He → have → million
He recently made his frustrations with the team clear through several critical social media posts.
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frustrations → make → posts
After one social media reporter mentioned the Pelicans were 3-0 without him in the lineup, Murray wrote back: "From what’s going on INSIDE, this sounds like someone hit you to say this!
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someone → mention → this
The tweet was deleted shortly after.
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tweet → delete → ?
The timing of Murray’s trade request drew some scrutiny, as it surfaced while the Pelicans were on a four-game losing streak.
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Pelicans → draw → streak
Nevertheless, Mosley said his focus remained on the players available to him and maintaining the team’s standards.
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focus → say → standards
"How well we play is very important to me, and making sure that we keep up that standard," Mosley said.
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Mosley → play → standard
"That’s why it’s so glaring when we don’t, because I know what this team has shown during training camp, what it has shown during the preseason."
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it → ’ → preseason
Mosley also said the Pelicans need to return to the style of play they showed earlier this season.
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they → say → play
"The first couple games didn’t go on the win column, but the way we played, we did a lot of good things. …
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we → go → things
As the leader of this group, how we’ve been playing these last three games have not been a representation of this organization, the city, of the way we said we were going to play.
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we → play → way
How do we get back to that style of basketball that we know represents this organization the right way?"
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we → get → organization
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Press → contribute → report
The Aporia
