Dejounte Murray trade boosts Pelicans fantasy value and bets

The NBA never rests: On Friday evening, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that guard Dejounte Murray was traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for Larry Nance Jr., Dyson Daniels and two future first-round picks.

With this trade reshaping both the Pelicans and Hawks, Andre Snellings and Eric Moody explain what fantasy managers and sports bettors need to know about the deal.

Fantasy basketball opportunity for Pelicans and Hawks

For the Pelicans, this brings balance to their lineup and gives them the true point guard they’ve been lacking. While CJ McCollum is a strong combo guard who can be a playmaker in spurts, Murray is actually a full-time point guard on both sides of the ball. With the Spurs, Murray was one of the best defensive guards in basketball before going to the Hawks, with the size and physicality to make life difficult for opposing points. He’ll have the opportunity to be that again with the Pelicans, and he’ll be able to use the distribution skills he often had to use alongside Trae Young to get easier shots for Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and McCollum. Murray has also become a much better shooter/scorer over the past few seasons, so he should be able to take advantage of the shooting opportunities created by playing off the Pelicans’ other talented finishers.

From a fantasy perspective, Murray is a winner who should have a higher usage rate and higher offensive production with the Pelicans, particularly assists but perhaps points as well. McCollum’s point totals could stay similar, but he’ll likely lose an assist or two and post numbers closer to where he was in Portland. It’s not clear if Ingram and Williamson will both return, but if so, their scoring rates could increase slightly, but their own assist totals could also drop.

In Atlanta, on the other hand, if Young stays with the team now that Murray is gone, he would have an absolute green light. Having two All-Star lead guards on one team has affected the performance of both players, and now Young would return to his opportunities from a few seasons ago and perhaps become a top-10 fantasy basketball producer. Aside from Young, however, the Hawks are now full of young players and enforcers who could fill Murray’s scoring void. Jalen Johnson had a stellar season last year and could be on the verge of a breakout season.

Keep an eye on Daniels, too. Selected ninth overall in the 2022 draft, he’s a 6-foot-7 guard with the size to potentially play with Young but the lead guard skills to play in the backcourt with Bogdan Bogdanovic. Daniels never really got off the ground in New Orleans on a Pelicans team with playoff aspirations, but on a rebuilding Hawks team, he should have less pressure and more opportunity to see if he can return to the form that once made him a lottery pick. — Andre Snellings

Which bets to make on the Pelicans

This is a great move for the Pelicans. In Dejounte Murray, they have a guard who can score and defend. He was one of only two players last season to record 1,500 points, 500 assists and 100 steals. The other player to accomplish this feat was Nikola Jokic. Additionally, Murray is a reliable player for the Pelicans in the decisive phase. New Orleans was 0-22 when trailing in the fourth quarter last season.

Murray will help the Pelicans a lot in the assists department. Last season, New Orleans guards only averaged 679 assists, the fewest of any team’s guard. There are rumors that Brandon Ingram could move, but I don’t think Murray will be the only move the Pelicans make this offseason. However, this is a great first step to continue to build a contender around Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum, especially after they were eliminated in the first round of the NBA playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Bettors should bet on the Pelicans (+2000) to win the Western Conference now that free agency begins. Also, keep an eye on New Orleans’ win totals as they become available. — Eric Moody