Dejounte Murray Fractures Hand | Fantasy Basketball Impact for Jordan Hawkins, CJ McCollum, Javonte Green, Jose Alvarado, Zion Williamson and Others

Analyzing the Pelicans' fantasy options after Dejounte Murray fractured his hand in the team's season opener.

The New Orleans Pelicans got their season started with a win on Wednesday, but lost Dejounte Murray in the contest.

Murray fractured his hand and will miss “extended time.” Let’s discuss what the injury means for the rest of the Pelicans going forward.

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Opening Game Stats

Murray played through the injury and logged nearly 30 minutes. He shot 4-of-15 from the floor, including 0-for-3 from 3-point land, but added six points at the foul line to tally 14 points overall.

He also had 10 assists, eight rebounds and a steal. That performance showed he was exactly what the team was hoping for after trading for him this offseason. It was also what fantasy owners were hoping to see, but instead, they’ll have to tread water until Murray returns.

Zion Williamson missed the game with an illness, so Herbert Jones, Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and Daniel Theis started the game. I’d expect Williamson to replace Theis in the starting lineup.

Jordan Hawkins played nearly 28 minutes off the bench, and could be the one who replaces Murray in the starting lineup. 

Ingram led the team in the opener with 33 points, along with seven rebounds, two assists and steals and a block.

McCollum has 23 points, five assists, two rebounds and a steal and block across 29 minutes. 

Jones finished with two points, four rebounds and two assists and steals across 32 minutes, while Theis had eight points, three assists and blocks and two rebounds and steals in his 18 minutes.

Hawkins went for 13 points, seven rebounds and an assist and block in his time on the court. Javonte Green added nine points, four steals, three rebounds and an assist across 25 minutes. Yves Missi played 22 minutes and had 12 points, seven boards, three blocks and an assist and steal.

Jose Alvarado was the only other Pelican in double digits for minutes. In 12 minutes, he had three points and assists and a steal.

Pelicans Fantasy Outlook

With Murray out, McCollum and Alvarado should hold down the point guard position. 

I expect Hawkins to see the biggest jump without Murray around. Like I said before, I bet he’s in the starting lineup going forward. Ingram will likely play a lot at the 2 spot until Trey Murphy III is ready to play. He is likely out several weeks though, so the team is going to have to get creative for a while.

Ingram, Jones and Williamson should round out the starting lineup. Missi and Theis will help fill out the center spot, while Green gets plenty of playing time at the two forward spots.

So after talking through everything, it looks like the Murray injury is going to benefit Hawkins and Green the most in terms of their minutes. More minutes equals more chances to produce fantasy numbers, so they are both waiver wire targets worth considering right now, especially if you rostered Murray.

Murray has averaged 20 points a game the past three years. He’s averaged a decent amount of rebounds and assists in those seasons as well, so there’s plenty of stats to fill in, and it’s more likely that those numbers get spread between several players instead of going to just one or two guys.

Ingram and Williamson are likely to have good/great fantasy nights often until Murray returns. 

McCollum should handle a lot of the scoring from the guard positions. Hawkins could put up averages close to what he produced in the opener to help round out the backcourt.

Jones should get a slight bump in his usage, and he should be able to average double digits in points again as a result.

Green is someone for deeper league fantasy owners to target especially. He should get a healthy amount of minutes until Murray is back and that could help him fill up the stat sheet and be a decent fantasy asset.

Missi is a player who is going to get a lot of attention after his strong opening game. Temper expectations with Williamson coming back, although the injury to Murray should allow Missi and Theis to play plenty of minutes still.

Alvarado might be worth an add in deeper leagues as well, but after only getting 12 minutes in the opener, I’d want to see at least one game before making that call. If he can get around 20 minutes, then he’s a decent fantasy option for those deeper leagues.

I’m speculating on several things here, but the best way to figure things out will be to watch the team’s box scores from the first few games without Murray. It will tell you who exactly is going to play more and what players might be better fantasy options as a result.

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