The New Orleans Pelicans had an impressive opening-night win against Chicago, but it came with a price.
Guard Dejounte Murray — the team’s biggest offseason acquisition — will be out 4-6 weeks following surgery on his fractured left hand, the team announced. Historically, players who have had hand surgery to repair a fracture have missed an average of 17.2 games and been out 40.5 days (which fits the 4-6 week timeline), reports Jeff Stotts of In Street Clothes. That timeline has Murray back in early December.
This is a setback for a Pelicans team that thought they would spend the first part of the season building chemistry with Murray and a changed roster. Now that process is on hold. Murray also had $1.9 million in incentives in his new contract tied to him playing at least 65 games, a threshold he likely now will not meet…