Pelicans sign Trey Murphy to four-year, $112M extension

The deal, which will begin in 2025-26 and will keep Murphy out of restricted free agency next summer, won’t include a player option, tweets Christian Clark of NOLA.com. It also doesn’t feature any incentives, per Shams Charania of ESPN.

The 17th overall pick in the 2021 draft, Murphy has emerged as an integral part of the Pelicans’ rotation. In 57 games last season, he set new career highs in points (14.8), rebounds (4.9), and assists (2.2) while knocking down 38.0% of 7.8 three-point attempts per game. The 24-year-old is quickly becoming one of the NBA’s most dangerous outside shooters, with a career rate of 39.2% from beyond the arc.

Murphy’s extension isn’t far off from the five-year, $135M deal that Devin Vassell signed with the Spurs last October. Vassell’s contract features one extra year and a slightly lower average annual value ($27M per year, compared to $28M for Murphy).

Signing Murphy to a rookie scale extension ensures that the Pelicans now have four of their core players – Murphy, Zion Williamson, Dejounte Murray and Herbert Jones – locked up through at least 2027.

One notable exception is Brandon Ingram, who is entering the final year of a five-year, maximum-salary contract. As Bobby Marks of ESPN observes, after accounting for Murphy’s extension, New Orleans projects to be about $31M below the tax line in 2025-26. A new deal for Ingram would almost certainly push the club beyond that threshold. That will be an important factor to consider for a Pelicans team that has never been a taxpayer.

Murphy is expected to miss some time at the start of this season, according to Charania. The Pelicans announced in early October that Murphy has a right hamstring strain and will be reevaluated in three weeks.