Early in a new season, Dejounte Murray has done what players rarely do so openly: asked to leave. The former All-Star's time in New Orleans has been marred by injury, diminished play, and a losing record whenever he takes the floor, and his frustrations have already surfaced in public. As the Pelicans struggle to find footing, the question becomes less about one guard's exit and more about how a team and a player can both recover from a relationship that has soured. Phoenix, Miami, and Charlotte each offer a different kind of possibility, though none offers a simple answer.
Dejounte Murray Requests Trade From Struggling Pelicans; Suns, Heat and Hornets Emerge as Fits
A problem-for-problem swap
Mark
Why is this request such a surprise? Players ask out all the time.
Mimi
Mostly the timing. It's the first of the 2026-27 season, and Murray made it loud by retweeting the report himself.
Mark
And the Pelicans' record without him doesn't matter here?
Luke
Careful. The source says they're 1-8 in games he's played and lost his minutes by over 14 points per 100 possessions. It doesn't give us the record without him.
Mark
So why would anyone want him?
Mimi
Mostly because he's an All-Star-level name with a big contract. His value is likely minimal, so the idea is swapping one problem contract for another.
Luke
That's the writer's assessment, not a team's stated position. Only Phoenix's interest is attributed, to Chris Haynes. Miami and Charlotte are speculative fits.
Mark
What makes Phoenix the most plausible?
Mimi
They've lacked a point guard, and Jalen Green's numbers are rough: -15.7 net rating when he plays.
Luke
Those are on-off numbers, and they're noisy. Also, the Murray-for-Green structure is a proposed scenario, not a reported negotiation.
Mark
And Miami's angle with Wiggins?
Mimi
Salary. He makes over $30 million now and $16.3 million next year, so he matches Murray now and costs less later.
Luke
Whether Miami would actually do it is unknown. The piece itself says they need a more reliable shot-creator than Murray.
The Pulse
- The first trade request of the 2026-27 season has landed on New Orleans, and Dejounte Murray made sure the world knew by retweeting the report himself.
- New Orleans is 1-8 in games Murray has played, and the team is bleeding points whenever he is on the floor.
- Murray's trade value is thin, so any deal may demand a problem-for-problem swap that drags a costly contract along with him.
- Phoenix, Miami, and Charlotte are circling, each with a fit that is awkward in its own way, while the league weighs whether to fine him for speaking out.
- The outcome is still open, with no deal yet and every team's motives tangled in salary, fit, and frustration.
Early in a new season, Dejounte Murray has done what players rarely do so openly: asked to leave. The former All-Star's time in New Orleans has been marred by injury, diminished play, and a losing record whenever he takes the floor, and his frustrations have already surfaced in public. As the Pelicans struggle to find footing, the question becomes less about one guard's exit and more about how a team and a player can both recover from a relationship that has soured. Phoenix, Miami, and Charlotte each offer a different kind of possibility, though none offers a simple answer.
The first trade request of the 2026-27 NBA season belongs to Dejounte Murray, the New Orleans Pelicans guard and 2022 All-Star. He has made no effort to keep it quiet. He retweeted the report of his request, a move that could expose him to a fine for publicly asking to be traded.
His time in New Orleans has gone badly from the start. He played only 31 games in his first season before tearing his Achilles. He returned late last year and played well, but this season has been rough. He is still starting, yet the Pelicans are 1-8 in games he has played, and his shooting and defense have not held up.
His frustration has been visible before. On a podcast in 2025 he said he was not getting what he needed from the organization, citing training, lifts, and court time. A later tweet, since deleted, told fans they had no idea what the team was dealing with.
His trade value is likely small, so any deal may mean taking back another heavy contract. Three teams make some sense. Phoenix, short on a point guard and frustrated after a slow start, could give Murray a path to the starting job. Miami could use a shot-creating guard and might swap Andrew Wiggins, whose contract is more manageable. Charlotte, with the league's worst offense, needs someone to steady the point guard spot and has the cap room to absorb salary.
For now, the questions are whether one of those teams moves, and whether the league decides to penalize Murray for speaking out.
The first trade request of the 2026-27 NBA season belongs to Dejounte Murray. The New Orleans Pelicans guard, an All-Star in 2022, wants out, and he made no effort to keep the news quiet: he retweeted Shams Charania's post reporting the request, a move that could seemingly expose him to a fine for publicly asking to be traded.
Murray arrived in New Orleans before the 2024-25 season, and the stay has gone badly. He played 31 games in that first year and shot worse than at any previous point in his career before tearing his Achilles. He came back late last season and played well, but this season has been rough. He remains in the starting lineup, yet the Pelicans are 1-8 in games he has played. They have lost his minutes by more than 14 points per 100 possessions, he has shot poorly from nearly everywhere on the floor, and he has not been a consistently impactful defender since his time with the San Antonio Spurs.
His frustration has surfaced in public before. In 2025, on The Pivot Podcast, he criticized the organization, saying he was not getting what he needed. Training time, lifts and his own court time were all hard to come by, he said, adding that people could imagine where his mental state was. In a since-deleted tweet replying to clips posted by Pro Pels Talk, he said fans have no clue what the team is dealing with.
CBS Sports' assessment is that his trade value is likely minimal. A deal would probably send back a similarly bloated, multi-year contract attached to a player a team wants to move, a kind of problem-for-problem swap. Three teams make some immediate sense.
Phoenix is the first with known interest, according to Chris Haynes. Haynes reported earlier this season that the Suns' lack of a point guard had caused frustration in the locker room. Phoenix started 1-5 and has won four of its last five. Jalen Green, the former No. 2 overall pick who came back in the Kevin Durant trade, has been a borderline disaster: the Suns have a -15.7 net rating with him on the floor and +10.2 with him off it. His shooting has fallen off, he offers little of the playmaking Devin Booker needs, and his defense is mostly absent. Green is owed $36 million on a player option next year, Murray $30 million on his. New Orleans might ask for compensation for absorbing the extra money, but Jeremiah Fears could become the unquestioned starting point guard, and Murray would be closer to the type Booker prefers. The fit is imperfect, since Murray's weak three-point shooting would hurt a Suns team that has lost shooting since last season.
Miami is the second possibility. Andrew Wiggins has struggled in the new Giannis Antetokounmpo-centered Heat, averaging under nine points per game on some of the worst shooting of his career, with his defense slipping too. Miami lacks a true shot-creating guard, though after spending most of its assets on Antetokounmpo its options are limited. Wiggins took an unusual route last offseason: he picked up his 2026-27 player option and added a cheap two-year extension. He makes over $30 million now and $16.3 million next season, which makes him appealing to a cost-conscious New Orleans and a workable salary match. If he rebounds, the Pelicans, with Saddiq Bey in place, could feel freer to trade Trey Murphy III or Herbert Jones for picks.
Charlotte is the least natural match, since the Hornets want to bomb threes and that has never been Murray's game. After trading LaMelo Ball, they expected Coby White and a rising Kon Knueppel to sustain a respectable offense. Ball is starring in Minnesota, White and Knueppel have barely played, and Charlotte has the league's worst offensive rating, highest turnover rate and lowest true shooting percentage. Murray could stabilize the point guard spot. The Hornets hold a $40.8 million trade exception from the Ball deal and nearly $30 million of room below the tax line, so they could almost absorb him outright, and they have shown willingness to take salary for draft capital.
What to watch now is whether Phoenix, Miami or Charlotte moves, and whether the league fines Murray for his public request.
Notable Quotes
I'm not getting what I need in the organization.— Dejounte Murray, on The Pivot Podcast in 2025
The Suns are the first team to register known interest.— Chris Haynes, as cited by CBS Sports
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