Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III suffers meniscus injury during workout, undergoing testing

Ask front office people about under-the-radar young players who could become stars and the name Trey Murphy III comes up early and often. The 6’9″ wing averaged 14.5 points a game last season in New Orleans, shot 40.6% from 3, and is an improving defender. On a team with bigger names, this is the guy many front offices covet, and it’s not a coincidence he was invited to be part of the USA Select team this summer (which trained and went against Team USA before it took off for the World Cup).

Which is why it’s bad news that Murphy went down with an injured meniscus at a workout at the team’s facilities Tuesday, a story broken by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (and since confirmed by others).

The severity of the injury is not yet known and Murphy is undergoing further testing.

If his knee requires surgery, Murphy would be out a couple of months and would miss the start of the NBA season. If he is out, that would be a blow to a Pelican’s team that needs floor spacing around Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, and was counting on Murphy’s shooting to help provide it.

Murphy was the No. 17 pick in the 2021 draft and became a starter with the Pelicans last year, in his second season. After this season he will be extension eligible.