Dejounte Murray suffers big injury on opening night for Pelicans

Oct 23, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray (5) during warmups before the game against the Chicago Bulls at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Pelicans’ big summer acquisition has gotten hurt after just 30 total minutes played for them.

New Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray made his debut for the team during Wednesday’s season opener against the Chicago Bulls. New Orleans ended up winning the contest 123-111, and Murray, though he shot a subpar 4/15 from the field, finished with a packed stat line of 14 points, eight rebounds, and 10 assists.

After the game though, Shams Charania of ESPN revealed some bad news for the Pelicans. Murray is feared to have suffered a fractured left hand during the win, Charania reports.

It is unclear when exactly Murray was injured as he was able to remain in the game until the Pelicans’ starters were pulled with less than two minutes left to go in the blowout. But now Murray is looking at the possibility of at least a multi-week (and perhaps a multi-month) absence from the New Orleans lineup.

The Pelicans gave up a lot of capital over the offseason to acquire the former All-Star Murray, 28. He is a lengthy former All-Defensive selection who can act as a true point guard to Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson as well as score at a high rate himself (posting a career-high 22.5 points per game last season for the Atlanta Hawks).

In a brutally tough Western Conference, the Pelicans could have a very hard time staying afloat without Murray’s two-way presence in the lineup. They may have to move CJ McCollum back to the point guard position with Jose Alvarado, Jordan Hawkins, and rookie Antonio Reeves picking up the slack in the backcourt for however long Murray is sidelined.