Trey Murphy III Finally Escapes the Injury Report for Friday's Matchup

According to Underdog NBA, Trey Murphy III is officially available to play Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves, ending a frustrating stint on the injury report for the New Orleans Pelicans forward.

The man has been dealing with bilateral patella tendinopathy, which is just a very expensive medical way of saying both of his knees hurt. But the injury report finally flipped to available, meaning New Orleans gets one of its most important wings back in the rotation.

"Underdog NBA reported: 'Trey Murphy III (knee) listed available to play Friday.'"

Murphy has had a brutal stretch of injury luck over the last couple of years. If you remember back to March of 2025, he had to undergo major shoulder surgery for a torn labrum and rotator cuff after diving for a loose ball against the Detroit Pistons. Spending your entire offseason rehabbing a shoulder only to have your knees betray you the following season is the kind of bad beat that makes you want to simulate to the end of the year.

Getting the forward back is a massive swing for the Pelicans. When he is healthy, Murphy is the exact kind of high-volume shooter and versatile defender that swings modern NBA games. For anyone staring at the prop markets, his return completely scrambles the New Orleans rotation and usage rates.

The Pelicans desperately need his spacing against a massive Minnesota frontcourt. You cannot just drive into the paint against the Timberwolves and hope for the best. You need guys who can pull the defense out to the perimeter and actually punish them for dropping back.

The big question now is how many minutes New Orleans lets him play right out of the gate. Expect a strict restriction on Friday night, but just having him in uniform is the best news the Pelicans have had in weeks.