Dejounte Murray landing spots: Three possible destinations after Pelicans guard requests trade

We have our first exchange request of the 2026-27 NBA season. If you had Dejounte Murray on your bingo card, congratulations. The 2022 All-Star landed with the New Orleans Pelicans ahead of the 2024-25 season, but his tenure there was a disaster and he requested a trade on Friday. He played in 31 games in his first season, shooting worse than ever before tearing his Achilles tendon. He came back late last season and played well, but the start of this season was a disaster.

Murray remained in the Pelicans’ starting lineup, but New Orleans was 1-8 in the games he played. They lost his minutes by more than 14 points per 100 possessions, he shot poorly virtually everywhere on the court, and he hasn’t been a consistently impactful defender since playing for the San Antonio Spurs.

Meanwhile, Murray has made his displeasure public on several occasions.

• In 2025, he criticized the organization on The Pivot Podcast. “I’m not getting what I need in the organization,” he said. “It’s hard for me to get my practice time. It’s hard for me to get lifts. It’s hard for me to get my own court time. So you can only imagine where my mind was at.”
• In a since-deleted tweet responding to clips posted by Pro Pels Talk, Murray said that fans have “no idea what we’re dealing with.”
• Murray himself retweeted Shams Charania’s tweet about his trade request, which would apparently subject him to a fine for publicly requesting a trade.

At this point, Murray’s trade value is likely minimal. If a deal is reached, it will likely involve an equally large multi-year contract attached to a player that a team is eager to move. Essentially, we’re looking for “issue for issue” transactions.

Three destinations make some immediate sense.

Phoenix Suns

The Suns are the first team to show significant interest, according to Chris Haynes. Earlier this season, Haynes reported that the team’s lack of a playmaker had created frustration in the locker room. Phoenix started the season 1-5, but has since won four of its last five to right the ship somewhat.

However, Jalen Green’s experience was borderline disastrous for Phoenix. The Suns have a staggering -15.7 net rating when Green plays and a +10.2 net rating when he sits. The former No. 2 overall pick was one of the key pieces returned in the Kevin Durant trade, but his shot fell off a cliff. He doesn’t provide any of the playmaking elements that Devin Booker needs in a backcourt partner (which is part of why the Suns are doing so much better with Collin Gillespie on the court in his place), and his defense is virtually non-existent.

Murray and Green both have player options for next season, with Green set to earn $36 million and $30 million owed to Murray. The notoriously stingy Pelicans could insist on some form of compensation for accepting that extra money, but the principle here would essentially be the “issue for issue” structure we suggested above. With Murray gone, Jeremiah Fears could be the Pelicans’ undisputed starting point guard. Green would come off the bench or slot in next to him at shooting guard, while Murray would be closer to the point guard archetype that Booker prefers.

This is by no means a perfect fit. Murray’s weakness as a 3-point shooter would be problematic as the Suns have lost quite a few shots since last season, and the Pelicans frankly have too many talented players shooting first. But it’s at least an attempt to resolve the real problems on both sides. The rebuilding Pelicans might like to at least take a look at an extremely gifted athlete, while the Suns would hope to get the point guard they’re missing.

Miami Heat

Andrew Wiggins really struggled to fit into the new version of the Heat centered around Giannis Antetokounmpo. The former No. 1 overall pick is averaging fewer than nine points per game on some of the worst shooting numbers of his career. Its usually steady defense has slipped quite a bit on a unit that has been extremely disappointing as a whole, and offensively, Miami’s lack of a true shot-creating guard has proven problematic early in the season.

The Heat need a more reliable shot generator than Murray, but after spending most of their assets on Antetokounmpo, his options are somewhat limited. This kind of trade would essentially be a bet that going from one of the worst organizations in the NBA to one of the best could rejuvenate a former All-Star. Installing a point guard who shoots poorly from distance on a Giannis team would be problematic enough, but Miami would likely shift them both to limit their minutes together.

Such a trade would appeal to New Orleans for several reasons. The first is contractual. Wiggins signed an unusual contract last offseason. He had a player option for the 2026-27 season, but rather than decline it and sign a whole new contract, he picked it up and added a cheap two-year extension at the end of the deal. He’s making over $30 million this season, but will drop to $16.3 million next season. This makes him an ideal trade target for a team looking to save money. He can now match his salary with Murray’s in a trade, but it will cost a lot less next year.

And then of course, there’s a chance that Wiggins bounces back on a team that plays a little more traditionally than the Antetokounmpo-led teams. Pelicans wings Trey Murphy III and Herbert Jones have been rumored for years, and with Saddiq Bey in place and a potentially rejuvenated Wiggins coming in, New Orleans would potentially feel a little more comfortable cashing in one of these other forwards for draft picks since they would have backups in the building.

Charlotte Frelons

Murray is absolutely not the type of player the Hornets tend to target, especially at the point guard position. Charlotte wants to bomb 3-pointers. That’s not the case today, and it never was the case with Murray. When Charlotte traded LaMelo Ball, they expected to be able to maintain a somewhat respectable offense with Coby White in his place and Kon Knueppel ascending. Well, Ball is playing at Minnesota and White and Knueppel have barely played.

The Hornets knew they were taking a step back this season with the Ball trade. They probably didn’t expect the NBA’s worst offensive rating, highest turnover rate, and lowest true shooting percentage. Bringing in Murray could at least provide them with a stabilizing force at the point guard position, someone who could raise the floor enough to properly evaluate everyone else on the team moving forward.

The Hornets benefit from a $40.8 million trade exception generated by moving Ball and nearly $30 million in cap space below the tax line. They could almost absorb Murray without sending out another contract, and they’ve shown a willingness to accept salary in exchange for draft capital. That would be the idea here.

The Hornets are not taking Murray’s player option for next season lightly. The Pelicans should be worth it with some form of first-round compensation. The Pelicans are probably hesitant to do this after all the criticism they (rightly) received for the Derik Queen trade, but Charlotte is probably the only team that can offer real financial relief to Murray at this point. If it’s a priority, there could be a conversation here. If the Pelicans expect the Hornets to treat Murray like a true asset, the Hornets will almost certainly succeed.