New Orleans Pelicans Sharpshooter Predicted To Earn Starting Job This Year

The New Orleans Pelicans have a sharpshooter at wing that is expected to fight his way into the starting lineup this season.

Oct 7, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III celebrates his team's victory over the Orlando Magic at Smoothie King Center. / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Pelicans have a starting lineup that seems pretty solid right now, but could one player force them to switch things up once again.

Dan Favale of Bleacher Report recently came up with one prediction for each NBA team. As for the Pelicans, he predicted that small forward Trey Murphy III would bully his way into the starting lineup by the end of the year.

"Whether it's because New Orleans trades others or demotes them, Murphy will finish the year as an every-night starter. The real question is why, right hamstring injury aside, it doesn't seem like he will begin the season as one," said Favale.

The fan-favorite 'Trigga Trey' has made splash over the past few seasons by consistently becoming the team's most important shooter on the wing and his ability to take games over.

He was the No. 17 overall selection in the 2021 NBA draft. In that same class, the Pelicans picked up Herb Jones and then signed Jose Alvarado as an undrafted free agent. It has become one of the most important classes in recent franchise memory.

While Murphy didn't make an immediate impact as a rookie, he quickly grew into his role. He ended up starting a majority of games in the 22-23 season out of necessity and emerged.

The Virginia Cavaliers product has averaged 14.6 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game while shooting 39% from deep over the last two campaigns.

Injury issues aside, he's been a home run post-lottery draft pick. New Orleans just awarded him with a massive four-year, $112 million contract extension with hopes of him breaking out even further into a true star.

The easiest path for him to take a full-time starting job would be for the team to finally pull the trigger, no pun intended, on a Brandon Ingram trade.

While Ingram has been a cornerstone of the franchise over the past few seasons, it appears that his time in a Pelicans uniform is coming to an end. The two sides are far apart on the money it would take for an extension.

New Orleans tried and failed to pull off a trade this past offseason, but maybe a team will be desperate enough mid-season to pony up for a deal.

That would make Murphy the easy option to start again at the three on a daily basis. The 24-year-old was already in the starting lineup for almost half of the games he played in last season.