In 2021, the New Orleans Pelicans selected Trey Murphy III with the #17 pick. Born in Durham, North Carolina, Murphy became a basketball sensation at Cary Academy secondary school before attending Rice and Virginia. In February, Murphy went back to Cary Academy for his jersey retirement ceremony.
Advertisement
Out of Bounds TV released a documentary-styled episode on Murphy’s jersey retirement ceremony in August. In the episode, Trey’s mom Albeda Murphy reminisced about her son’s high-school days. She recalled how her son was humble, approachable, and very friendly as a kid.
She credited Trey’s father Kenneth Murphy for identifying his talent and giving him the tough love necessary to make it to the next level. She then pointed out a pleasant change in their lives since their kid made it to the NBA.
Previously, they used to foot all his bills. But now, he is more than capable of providing for himself and his parents as well. She found it amusing how her son has now finally realized the price of things after making it to the NBA. Albeda Murphy said,
“It’s just different now because what’s so great going out and he’s picking up the check. That’s what’s so funny. That’s when I am like, alright, this is a good feeling because now you see how must it cost to feed you.”
"It's so different now… Going out and he's picking up the check… That's when I'm like ok this is a good feeling cause now you see how much it costs to feed you"
— @amurphy1908 on Trey Murphy making it in the NBA pic.twitter.com/AB3h4hJ5dX
— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) September 6, 2024
Money is indeed no longer an issue for the Murphy family. Trey Murphy III is in the last year of his four-year, $14.7 million contract. He will make over $5 million next season and will be a Restricted Free Agent after that.
Therefore, it will perhaps be the biggest offseason of his young career as it will determine his value in the market.
Will Trey Murphy III start?
Murphy has been a fantastic long-range shooter for the past two seasons. He put up 14.8 points per game during the 2023-24 season, which was pretty much the same as his sophomore year(14.5 PPG).
However, his total made threes jumped from 2.6 to 3.0 per game(38%) in a year. He was close to being top ten in the league in that regard. Considering his catch-and-shoot style, he has earned comparisons to Klay Thompson.
The 24-year-old has shown promising signs of developing into a similar mold. Considering his skillset, Zach Lowe has declared on his podcast that he may be able to become a permanent starter for the Pels next season
So far, he has started in 89 out of 198 games(44.9%) in his career. However, after the arrival of Dejounte Murray, it is unclear if Murphy can land the starting spot. If he has to settle for a bench role, then he can potentially be in the Sixth Man of the Year convos.
