Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images
New Orleans Pelicans star guard Dejounte Murray suffered a fractured left hand during Wednesday’s season-opening win against the Chicago Bulls, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Murray is expected to miss “an extended period of time,” Charania added.
Murray posted 14 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in the 123-111 victory.
Murray, 28, was New Orleans’ major offseason acquisition, as the team sent a pair of first-round picks and Dyson Daniels, Larry Nance Jr. and E.J. Liddell to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for the veteran point guard.
It was a far more modest return than Atlanta sent to the San Antonio Spurs (four first-rounders and Danilo Gallinari) to acquire Murray back in 2022.
The Trae Young and Murray backcourt never fully jelled, though the latter did average a career-high 22.5 points per game last season and made 201 threes, also a career high. But with Young handling primary ball-handling duties, Murray seemed slightly miscast as an off-ball guard when they shared the court.
The addition of Murray gave the Pelicans a true point guard to pair with C.J. McCollum and rounded out a strong core group of that pair alongside Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Herbert Jones. While there were some question marks about whether there would be enough of the proverbial basketballs to go around, the Pelicans had undoubtedly accumulated a talented core.
Now, however, the Pelicans will be without Murray for a significant period of time, costing the team’s top four players the chance to build chemistry. And given Williamson’s own history of missing time, the team is another injury away from being severely depleted.
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