Pelicans fans have been waiting for this...

Pels fans have been waiting for DeJounte Murray to step up for the last two years after dealing with several injuries throughout his time in New Orleans. Will this finally be the year that he steps up and takes the lead? Let's talk about it inside this edition of Pelican's Digest. What's good with it my people? It's Mel from the AYC back once again inside Pelican's Digest. Thank you so much for tapping in with us. Hope you had a great weekend. As we struggle to get back into the swing of things inside of another work week as we begin the countdown to another Pelican season. Thank you so much for tapping in with us though and don't forget that you can follow us right now on X. You can follow us at Pelican's Digest and also hit that subscribe button if you haven't done it yet. This is where you get the best analysis, opinions, and more about the New Orleans Pelicans right here on Pelican's Digest. And real quick, I want to thank everybody for the gumbo recommendations. I'm going to be in the city this weekend for the Kanye West concert and listen man, I ate some bad gumbo at a restaurant here in Texas last week and I just had a hankering for it. And you know, I asked for y'all recommendations, some of y'all dropped them off to me in the comments. NOLA Star Records says the best gumbo is at NOLA Pull Boys at the Slow Inn of Bourbon and discount in and out on Chef in the East. I don't know about going in the East, but I don't know about going in the East, but if I find myself in the corner this weekend, I'm going to definitely go swing over there and go check it out. Also, my man Gregory Gendry said it's too hot for gumbo, Mel. I agree, it is too hot for gumbo. It is too hot for gumbo, but he said we could eat some sushi. I've been eating a lot of sushi in my time and due to my health and all this other stuff, I had to pick up all the sushi, but it is too hot. I just want a little cup. I don't want a big bowl of gumbo. I just want a little cup. So, I'm going to definitely go check that out, but shout out to Stupid Talk 101. He says, check out O'Lea's Brothers. I heard a lot of good things about O'Lea's Brothers. I've heard a lot of good things about it. I definitely will go check it out when I touch the city this weekend, all right? But a couple of things to get you updated on here, on Pelican's Digest on this Monday. Over the weekend, you probably heard about the signing of DeMar DeRozan. He is moving on from the Kings and is headed over to the Denver Nuggets. And apparently, come to find out, New Orleans was on his list of teams and he eventually ended up talking to the Pelicans during his search for his new team. According to ESPN's Sham Sarania, he reported that DeRozan had talked to the Miami Heat, the Washington Rizzards, and New Orleans before choosing the Nuggets. And listen, I've already seen the comments saying, you know, oh, it was another fumble by Joe Dumars. I wouldn't consider that. The guy had, it was his choice of where he wanted to go. And let's start with the fact that he actually took the phone call to New Orleans. Let's talk about that for a second. He actually considered the city and he actually considered the Pelicans. But of course, you know, I didn't see what the fit is. For starters, he's 37 years old. Tail end of his career. Still can produce. Not saying that he can't produce. He still averaged like 16, 18 points last season and played in a lot of games. But I just didn't see how he would have fit. Because again, you're getting another shooting wing. Another wing, if that makes sense. And it could have happened on a reasonable deal. I mean, Denver ended up paying him $3.9 million, which is about the range of what the Pelicans are looking to spend for a player. And unfortunately, yeah, you could have got an all-star for a super cheap price. But DeRozan would have been an odd fit in New Orleans. He is likely looking for a big offensive role that is available. He would have been behind Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, and Sadiq Bae. I think you could have easily swapped him in with Herb Jones out of that list as far as the scoring effort goes. But Herb Jones is going to be coveted by Jamal Mosley because of his defensive prowess. So I really don't see DeRozan jumping into that list of those guys. But he would have been an odd fit, plus you already have a glut at the wing position. You got all those guys I just mentioned, plus you also got Bryce McGowans. You also got Micah Peavy. You know, it was just a move situation in my opinion. You know, I don't see it as a fumble or bad decision that the Pelicans didn't go all-out or try to outbid him. You know what I'm saying? Well, we'll give you more money than what they're offering. I'm glad that they go that route, you know, and get into a bidding war for DeRozan's services. You know, they took his call. It was like, could you fit? Would he make this team better? I would like to know your thoughts on that at the end of the day. Do you think DeRozan could have made this team better had the Pelicans signed him? I just didn't see it. We already have a glut at that position already, at the wing position. But let me know your thoughts on that. As we get into the real topic of discussion today, the main topic of discussion, and that's DeJounte Murray, who is finally speaking out. We usually don't hear from DeJounte Murray that much, but he's speaking out. He recently did an interview for his New Balance Sneaker endorsement, and was on a podcast and spoke to Hoops Hype about his rehab process coming back. And listen, we've been waiting on DeJounte Murray to sort of show that he could be the guy for two seasons now. But the same situation, it was always injuries or something else that he had to deal with. Of course, you know, when he signed with New Orleans, he had a flurry of issues. A flurry of issues within the first few months of his arrival to the city, including his mother suffering a stroke shortly before his first regular season game with the Pelicans. He then broke his left hand in that same opening game and missed 17 games. Then he had a cousin that was killed, an uncle that died of an overdose before he was securely ruptured in January of 2025. And then, of course, he had to sit out almost all of last season due to that injury and rehab his way back. And, you know, getting back is what helped him get through the process is what he said in his interview. Murray later described that stretch, of course, his opening stretch in New Orleans, as the worst three months of his professional career on and off the court. Basketball became secondary. Instead of shutting down completely, though, getting himself back became a challenge. And those 14 games at the end of a lost season helped with the healing process. And, you know, listen, that's why I'm willing to give the John T. Murray grace. A lot of y'all don't have a lot of grace for the John T. Murray. And I understand that. I really do understand that. Y'all think that he's a guy that the Pelicans need to move on for him. And I understand that. But we still have yet to see what a full season of the John T. Murray could do for us. And I think the front office wants to see that, too. If anything, he's probably your best defensive player in that guardroom. And we're being honest. And that's something, again, Jamal Moses is going to want on his team. He's going to want that energy on his team. He's also one of the oldest players on his team at 29 years old. So, if anything, I continue to argue, a lot of people laugh at me and say this, but I think that John T. Murray is the captain of this team. Listen, when I say captain, I mean he is the veteran outside of De'Andre Jordan, as far as on the floor, that they're going to listen to the most. So, with him coming back to those 14 games, if you all recall, when he came back, he was talking that big ish about trying to get us back into the playing schedule. But Murray said that it was important for him to come back instead of shutting down and coming back and playing those last 14 games because it was just like we're 14th in the West, so we really didn't have much to play for. But it's like we could reach 10 to get into the play-in, so it gave me something to play for. So, that's my reason for coming back. Or I would have just sat out and got ready for this year. But it was like, nah, I want to go. I felt ready, obviously. And as a fan, you got to love that about him, man. As a fan, you've got to love that. In an all-season, in a season of all bad news and just bad everything, bad vibes all around, to hear somebody say, man, I want to come back and play for this team, I love that. I love that. I don't know how you feel about it, but I love it. He was also asked about being a mentor to some of the younger guys, including Zion Williamson and Jeremiah Fierce. And he says, I'm excited. We got a good group of guys, as I said. Character is everything. You can tell about a person by how they treat other people. And when you've got good people and they work hard, it's like the sky's the limit. That stuff comes together. You just never know where it goes. So we'll just see how everything goes, but it's easy to balance these things. And I think that's going to be important going into this season is having him there all the time fully now. And I think it's going to lead to better improvement as far as wins. Will it lead to a lot more wins? We'll see. You know, they already got us pegged to just win 25 games this season. Actually pegged. ESPN actually has us to finish worse than we did last season. And, you know, one of the factors that's – and Murray's going to be one of those main factors, in my opinion, to whether or not this team can go past that 25-game stretch so they win more games this season. Because toughness is what they're demanding, and toughness is something that they're going to be so-called going with this season. But looking solely at the on-court scheme, it all starts with the point of attack, a table-setting guard, according to most coaches. Well, a full-focused season for Murray gives the Pelicans a defensive tone setter and secondary playmaker who can take pressure off of Williamson. And I don't know if you've seen these videos as of late. There's been a lot of videos on social media of him and Fierce working out together, not separately. And, you know, I wouldn't mind seeing that sort of setup going into this season to see if Fierce at the point and Murray at the shooting guard can work. I'm willing to take a look at that at this point in the season, and we'll probably do a deep dive into the guard room at some point as we get closer and closer. I see somebody in the comments recommending that. We'll do a deep dive into that real soon. But I really do think this could be the season that Murray could actually contribute in a significant way to this team after two missed opportunities so far. I would love to know your thoughts. You know, I've seen some of y'all comments throughout the last few months saying that, you know, Murray ain't it. You want to move on from Murray. I understand your reasoning why. I'm giving my reasoning why I think, you know, this could be the season that he could actually help this team and be a contributor to actual wins, especially in the clutch. Like we pointed out in the last video, the Pells lost more than half of their games, 42 games in the clutch, which means if you just win 10, at least 20 of those games, at least 20 of those games that are under two minutes and under five points, we're on a whole different story now with this team, which is why if you're Joe Dumars, you feel somewhat comfortable running it back. When you start to look at stats like that, you feel, okay, we can just fix this clutch situation. If we can win those clutch minutes from here on out, we have a better chance. I think Murray could be a big contributing factor there. Let us know your thoughts on this. Clap back with your thoughts in the comments, man. Thank y'all so much for tapping in with us and doing a quick little episode real quick. Got to let you know once again that you can follow us on X right now at Pelicans Digest. And also hit that subscribe button if you haven't done it yet. This is where you get the best analysis, opinions, and more about the Royal Pelicans. Share your thoughts. The John T. Murray, is it? Is this the year that he actually helps out? Or are you off of the John T. Murray? You ready to move on? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, man. And thank you so much for tapping in with us here on Pelicans Digest. It's Mel, talking about those Pels. I'll holla at you.