Report: Pelicans have significant concern over injury to key starter

Apr 12, 2023; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Detailed view of the New Orleans Pelicans logo at mid court before the Play-In game against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

If it is not one injury woe for the New Orleans Pelicans, it is another.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday on the status of Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III. It was revealed earlier this week that Murphy had suffered a meniscus injury to his left knee during an offseason workout.

Wojnarowski said on the latest episode of ESPN’s “NBA Today” that the Pelicans have “significant concern” over the injury to Murphy. The talented 23-year-old is said to have suffered “at least a slight tear” to the meniscus and could be out for either weeks or months depending on what kind of procedure Murphy decides to undergo.

Here is the full clip of Wojnarowski’s report.

Reporting on the latest with Trey Murphy III’s left knee injury for NBA Today with @Malika_Andrews: pic.twitter.com/ZkWBSZwykW

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 6, 2023

Murphy had his coming out party as a sophomore for the Pelicans last year, averaging a career-high 14.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game in 65 starts. He also displayed excellent defensive versatility at 6-foot-9 and made 202 total three-pointers for New Orleans (connecting on a superb 40.6 percent of his attempts).

The Pelicans have so much talent on paper, but they can never seem to get all their pieces healthy at the same time. The net result has been just one winning season in the last five years and questions of “what if?” haunting them at every turn. As if the constant headache with Zion Williamson was not enough to deal with, now New Orleans has to work through an injury blow to one of their actually reliable young players in Murphy as well.