A veteran guard who arrived in New Orleans with high hopes has, in less than two seasons, watched his body and his place on the team fracture, and now he has asked to leave. Dejounte Murray's request follows a loss, a pointed accusation of sabotage that he later deleted, and a team sliding through a losing stretch. The story sits within a familiar arc in professional sport, where a trade once imagined as a boost becomes a quiet record of injury, misfortune, and rupture. What happens next depends on whether another franchise sees value worth its money and its contract.
Pelicans' Dejounte Murray Requests Trade Out of New Orleans After 'Sabotage' Post
A veteran guard who arrived in New Orleans with high hopes has, in less than two seasons, watched his body and his place on the team fracture, and now he has asked to leave. Dejounte Murray's request follows a loss, a pointed accusation of sabotage that he later deleted, and a team sliding through a losing stretch. The story sits within a familiar arc in professional sport, where a trade once imagined as a boost becomes a quiet record of injury, misfortune, and rupture. What happens next depends on whether another franchise sees value worth its money and its contract.
On Friday afternoon, Dejounte Murray reposted a report that he had asked the New Orleans Pelicans to trade him. The news, first shared by ESPN's Shams Charania, set his agent Rich Paul and team officials to work on finding him a new home. The Pelicans answered briefly, saying they would weigh trade options in the organization's best interest.
The moment came just two days earlier. After a 145-111 home loss to the Nets, Murray posted that the team was 1-8 with him and 3-0 without him, and he called the situation sabotage. He later deleted the post, and the team has not publicly answered his claim in detail.
His time in New Orleans has been hard from the start. Acquired from Atlanta in July 2024 in a trade that sent Dyson Daniels away, Murray has played just 54 games for the Pelicans, between a broken hand and an Achilles tear. Daniels has since grown into one of the league's best defenders. Now the Suns are reportedly interested, though no offer has been made, and any suitor will have to absorb Murray's salary and his looming option.
On Friday afternoon, Dejounte Murray reposted a news report about himself, and with that the guard's time in New Orleans looked close to over. The report, first published by ESPN's Shams Charania, said the 30-year-old former All-Star had asked the Pelicans to trade him. His agent, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, and team officials have begun working on finding him another team.
The Pelicans responded with a short statement on X. They said Murray's representatives had told them that day of his request, and that the club would evaluate trade opportunities that are in the best interest of the organization. It was a measured reply to a request that had been building for less than two days.
The trigger came Wednesday night. New Orleans lost at home to the Nets, 145-111. Afterward Murray went to X and pointed out that the team was 1-8 this season with him in the lineup and 3-0 without him. He wrote that, from what was going on inside, the post he was responding to sounded like someone had been fed it, and that the sabotage was real. He has since deleted the post. The team has not been reported to have answered the accusation in specifics, and the source does not say what he meant by sabotage or who he believed was responsible.
One possible destination has already surfaced. According to NBA insider Chris Haynes, the Suns have expressed interest in acquiring him. No offer has been reported.
The request is the latest turn in a tenure that has gone badly almost from the start. The Pelicans acquired Murray from the Hawks in July 2024 in a deal that sent out a package headlined by Dyson Daniels and two first-round picks. Daniels has since become one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. Murray, meanwhile, has played only 54 games in a Pelicans uniform. He fractured his hand in his New Orleans debut, then tore his Achilles in January 2025.
The team around him has struggled too. New Orleans hired Jamahl Mosley as head coach in the offseason, and the Pelicans have now lost four straight games. That includes a 51-point loss to the Warriors on Monday, two days before the Nets game.
Money will shape any deal. Murray is earning $32.8 million this season. He also holds a $30.8 million player option for the 2027-28 campaign, part of a veteran extension worth more than $114 million that he signed in 2023. Any team interested will have to take on that salary and weigh the option.
What to watch now is whether the Suns or another club turns interest into a formal offer, and how the Pelicans, losers of four in a row, handle a request from a player whose public comments have already put the locker room under scrutiny.
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