Dejounte Murray Introductory Press Conference | New Orleans Pelicans

Dejounte Murray Introductory Press Conference | New Orleans Pelicans

that we good first I’d just like to thank Mrs Benson and Dennis and their executive team for challenging us and continue to empower us to win for New Orleans and continue to grow this organization we’re incredibly blessed to have their leadership you know making a trade of this magnitude is is never easy um both mechanically but also from a human perspective um and more importantly from a human perspective um all four of the players that were in this trade from our side uh Dyson Larry EJ and Cody were all representative of everything that we want to be they’re representative of the teammates that we want them to be and more importantly the human beings that we want for the City of New Orleans Larry in particular went extremely far out of his way to build bridges in this organization to build Bridges within the city and to do as many things as he could to help the community and so we’re extremely grateful for that yonas and Naji who are also part of other deals also represent everything it means to us to be a pelican and we’re very very grateful for for their contributions to our family as well at the same time when you get the opportunity to bring a player of the magnitude of dejon Murray to your family you absolutely do not hesitate to do that we are incredibly blessed that this worked out uh Willie and I and our coaching staff and front office group when we got together in the offseason and talked about where are the opportunities for us to improve the vast majority of those questions ended with one answer and it was Dean Murray a player who is a Bonafide closer an Allstar an all defensive player perform an all defensive performer somebody who’s going to be a two-way closer somebody that’s going to be on the court for incredibly large playoff victories for us at the end of the game and that’s really meaningful to us uh coach green I know is going to be tasked with uh quite a bit of difficult timing in terms of figuring out exactly how to make all these pieces work and honestly that’s what that’s what training camp is for um I’ll turn it over to coach now to get get his thoughts yeah um just to add to to what Griff said first of all we’re grateful for uh Larry Dyson Cody and EJ and their contributions to this organization um but uh at the same time we’re we’re extremely excited to add deante to our team I’ve been watching him quite frankly since he’s coming to the NBA and um what excites me is is his adap ability his competitiveness um things that he’s had to overcome to put himself in his in his family in this position and um he he just fits our style he fits what we’re about here in New Orleans and we look forward to um maximizing this platform that we have as a group and uh you know we couldn’t be happier uh for this time and for this moment to to add you to our our team how you guys doing yeah yeah appreciate all you guys for coming here today uh I don’t want to make it long on my end uh short but you know I’m thankful and grateful uh you know just in this lead it’s a it’s a business so you always remember that but you know besides the business you build relationships and uh you know when I came into the lead I had great veterans to tell me you know no matter how long you play in this league you build relationships and that’s the thing that’s going to matter the most you’re going to win games lose games all those different things things make money all those things but the relationships that will matter the most and uh like I was telling Griff uh yesterday you know I I’m a fan of the game so just watching New Orleans play and how they compete even when we played them from when I was in San Antonio to Atlanta recently you see you know how competitive they are you see they they love each other it’s a Brotherhood and uh you know that was easy for me of something to be a part of you know I work hard you know I stand on you know trust loyalty and just want to be in great environment so you know this is an environment that I wanted to be in I’m excited to be in uh you know more so it’s it’s it’s all work you know I don’t want to say too much besides just put the work in with my brothers uh the whole organization from staff and all all the way on and uh you know most most importantly I’m excited to be here but you know I just want to let you guys know I appreciate all you guys for coming today were looking at you know as far as TR deadine how much have you kind of kept eye on this situation what you think about your this te I mean on the deadline stuff you know it’s not appropriate for me to speak on those things when I was in Atlanta cuz I like I said you know I love my brothers and you know all them guys there and uh I understand my role in this business I’m a basketball player I’m not the GM the owner anywhere in the front office the coach so that’s stuff never really came to mind cuz if it happens it happens it doesn’t it doesn’t you know what I’m saying so for me it was just St talks everything going on I was allowing my agent to do that because I was there to show up and put the work in and you know just build bonds with my brothers like I said uh you know but far as New Orleans because this is home now I’m excited uh fans of all of these guys like I said not just Zion you know you go down the list uh and then I fit in with these guys because I’m a competitor you know from day one I want to compete at a high level I don’t want to lack in no drills whether it’s Sprints uh skills and drills whatever coach can say we’re coming in and if we’re coming in I’m 110% invested uh in just who I am as a person you know I don’t really braging myself I don’t like praise you know I want to continue to grow as a man a father and a basketball player so you know for me in this situation uh I fit in perfect and I think it’s going to be a smooth you know smooth trans transition and I’m excited respect to the previous STS You’ had in San Anton and Atlanta the opportunity to come to a team now that seems like it’s on the cusp of a deep playoff rine how much does that excite you with the opportunity to work with players like Zion NBI and CJ I mean like I continue to say I’m excited because you got a young group of guys who are still have chips on their shoulders you know they want to win you watch New Orleans play like I said I got to compete against them so I knew this was a tough matchup just knowing that they were willing to compete whether it was a Tuesday or Friday Saturday didn’t matter they were you know ready to compete and you know a lot of shouts out the coach and his staff for always having them ready to compete and play together and in this game you know to win it can’t be one two three four five guys you got to have your staff and everybody on the team from one to 15 you know ready to go out and compete at a high level so you know like I said I’m just excited to play with every single one of them you know uh it’s it’s going to be fun his as opponent and now get a chance to be teammates with him and how games could match that’s that’s our Superstar uh and I’m excited to push him I told him I’mma push him and this goes back before I was joining the team you know we exchanged numbers and had conversations and it was never about oh come to New Orleans or this or that you know he was somebody who reached out and he wanted to learn certain things and you want that from somebody that’s young that think you know they don’t know everything and they’re willing to be a sponge that just shows who he is as a person and how much he wants it and when I say that how much he wants to win and be great as an individual but also for his team so you know I’m just excited to push him whether it’s you know learning who he is as a person cuz that’s the most important off the floor and then on the floor we both let a game so you know like I said when it comes to drills if I see something that I think he could be better at he SE something than me we’re going to be open to that you know and making sure that we’re both in the film room studying the game studying each other the opponents and just preparing preparation everything but I’m excited to push him to the next level cuz he has a bunch of levels he could reach we know what you bring on the court what do you feel you can bring I’m a leader Natural Born leader like I said I don’t like praise I don’t like speaking on myself uh you you know I I’d rather just allow everybody to see that you know once I walk in the locker room before the locker room I’m excited to see our guys in summer leag I’ll be there supporting the young guys go to dinner with the guys that are there the staff you know I’m just excited so you know like I said I’m a natural born leader I don’t know how to fake it or be anything else but that obviously you you’ve had experience being the main guy as the point guard on the team how do you think your ability to orchestrate is really going to impact the offense now say that again your ab to orchestrate an offense and ball distribution how you think that’s going to fit in well with this offense with Zion and Company that’s my job to make all their life’s easier but also be on the same page as coach each and every day starting and practice film and leading to the games and that’s what I want to do I want to make all these guys great I want them to be better than me I want their life easier I want all those things I want all them challenges because I just feel like I’m built for it but most importantly I know I could do it and like I said being on the same page with Coach that’s that’s the most important obviously you talked about how you buil relationship how close have you and Zion grown over the years and how much close do you think it’ll it’ll be in the months leading up to the season opener it was already love you know it was natural genuine you know love from day one uh just knowing what how what he did to get here how hard he worked to get here what he’s dealt with from everything uh just the light that’s has been on him you know that’s not easy and I’m a fan of him you know I’m a fan of basketball but I’ve watched when he start blowing up in high school to now being his teammate so I can only imagine what he’s dealt with far as the light you know outside of here when it comes to him having to show up every night you know dealing with injuries all these different things so you know like I said I just want to meet him as a person and get to know him get to know his family cuz like I said that’s most important you know if you listen to what I said in beginning relation ship matter the most so that’s the most important to me because the basketball is our job we get paid a lot of money to show up and do our job and that’s going to be the part where you know comes after learning each other but you know I’m excited to push them how important was it for you this summer to ask somebody with the Jon skill set as far as a ball handler and a guy who can run offense when the game SL down I I think somebody who could get clutch baskets was really a critical thing for us um I think we have quite a bit of playmaking and obviously we have guys that are selfless and they all want to make the right play I think sometimes and coach and I and our staff have talked about this quite a bit Bryson’s in the back we’ve talked about this a good amount um you can have too much ball dominance but you can also have too little and I think we ran into a situation in the playoffs where maybe we didn’t have enough um and I think we’re in a situation where we we looked at deante as a player that just wanted to win no matter what it took when you’re a player who can close games because you can can get to a shot and you’re a player that can close games because you’re going to get a steal and get somebody else a basket that’s invaluable to a team so we look at Dante is having the ability to close games multiple ways and that was important for us you were asked a lot of the offseason about maybe getting a point guard or maybe getting another Superstar it kind of seems like you got a two for one in this aspect how how ideal was that you were able to retract towards this trade and get it done the second time around yeah I mean we’re we’re hoping it’s ideal and at the same time as he said you know the praise of this isn’t going to matter if we don’t win so we think we put ourselves in a position to have somebody who’s truly hungry to be part of what we’re doing and to drive us forward um we were really excited that it was something that was available to us um it’d probably be disingenuous of us to say we recognize the degree to which he’s going to lead this group I don’t think coming in the door that was our expectation and you sit with him for three minutes you know what this is going to look like this is going to be different and I I think that’s something for us that’s the most exciting you made over two threes last season just what can you tell us about the work you put on that aspect of the game I mean coming growing up I never had a trainer I was just raw talent you know playing in my neighborhood uh I didn’t have the trainers we didn’t have access to none of that so you know as you start getting to these different levels you know starting in college uh and then you know I was blessed to make it to the NBA uh and get with great people and just be around you know a bunch of people that’s done it before me whether it was a coach or player and you know when it comes to working hard and just putting the work in that’s something that I want to do and that’s a chip on my shoulder that I have from just where I come from and knowing there’s always room to improve so even with that I just look to get better in things each and every year uh Kaw Leonard told me when I was a rookie don’t chase nothing your journey is your journey and just take it day by day and year by year and uh that’s all I did get better every year and I try to come back and be better every year and you know as the Years start going I start getting more confident with it then it goes into having a coach that believes in you it doesn’t matter if you have a coach that believes in you then the rest could be history so and I don’t lack confidence no matter what it is so that’s another thing that you know benefits me you had a lot of capable Playmakers since you become the head coach here how do you view deson play Murray cuz he he looks like and feels like legitimate starting point guard your first here in New Orleans how do you envision him fitting in for your offense well that’s the that’s those are some of the qualities that we love about him is that um if you look at you examine his career um he’s had the ability to adapt to any environment that he’s been put in and and the biggest I think what blossoms out of him is that he’s a comp he’s a competitor no matter what position he’s on he plays on the floor he he competes and if he’s playing point guard he’ll compete if he’s playing and San Antonio next at Tony Parker it didn’t matter he just put him on the floor and he’s going to he’s going to make great things happen but we definitely going to put the ball in his hands and you know he it’ll be in his hands some it’ll be in Zion it’ll be in bi so uh CJ we have a number of guys that we can put the ball in their hands and and they’ll feed off each other and I think that’s uh those are more weapons for us what kind of problem you think herb Jones man shout out to Herb Jones uh he a real one uh I reached out to him I just got to get this out the way to clear everything I reached out to him and it wasn’t my intentions to wear five you guys my family I was like I’m going to wear another number and I asked him do he like it or love it and he didn’t too much love it and you know he was like I’ll give you five if two’s available I’ll take two uh and that’s how that happened and I ain’t going to say nothing but I’m going to make sure he’s taken care of cuz that’s just that’s just who I am you know n they they they laughing but I’m serious like I’mma take care of him make sure he’s straight uh but on the basketball end he’s he’s legit he’s legit and I want to challenge him I want him to challenge me you know starting in practice uh and I want to be on First Team all defense with him and that’s that’s something that I’ve been preaching since the trade happened I’m excited to play with him and like I said I want to get on first all team first all team defense with herb Jones ATA last year you were very complimentary at her what’s it like just competing against him and just having two guys out like you out there who can create turnovers the way y do he’s a dog uh he’s he’s a competitor he he love the game and he takes pride in any matchup he has so even if you go watch the Atlanta game you see us going at it you see us you know chirping a little bit and then after you just see us hugging and you see the love for another and that’s what I love that’s what I can’t wait to see him practice cuz that iron shoing iron and it just helps your team so to have two guys like that on the team that’s going to be I was telling my family like we going to be arguing on who’s guarding the best player because that’s just something that I want to do I want to guard the best player he wants to guard the best player so I’m just excited for his growth his development he’s doing everything he’s opposed to I hear he’s a great person but I love to see it for myself you know I want to meet him I want to learn him in his family myself and like I said in the basketball end you could just see his development he continues to get better and better and that’s another guy’s life I want to make easier and just help be great about you being a closer how much do you live for those last second moments bill for it that’s all I can say uh and when I say bill for it it doesn’t have to be me taking the shot I could create the shot and one of my teammates it doesn’t matter who it is gets the shot I still feel like it’s going in and that’s just who I am and that’s that’s how I feel I don’t know how else to put it really a lot of times the the point guard often is the reflection of the head coach on the court what do you think about J’s ability to be that floor coach for you whenever there’s games going on yeah he he’s he’s already proven and done that um really pretty much his whole career so I continue to see him blossoming in that role uh like I said I’ve been watching Devonte I mean deante got Devonte deante I’ve been watching deante um since he was young and Jamal Crawford is is a really good friend and teammate and I know deante was one of his sort of like younger proteges coming up uh when he tore his ACL I reached out to him talked to him right away um because I experienced the same thing so just knowing what type of person he was what he had to go through to get to where he is in life um I was always keeping an eye on him on him I was watching his game watching how he developed watching his progression in San Antonio watching how he played off Trey young watching when Trey young was out how he played I’ve always been watching him you know because my relationship with Jamal because of just got love for guys in the NBA and so when he gets on the floor he’s definitely he’s an extension of not just the coaches but the whole organization and the community that he represents and he’s he’s done that throughout his whole career a lot of guys in this roster who been really productive players and they may put up numbers what do you think about the challenge of of making all pieces fit this upcoming season I I look forward to it um that’s what we get in this this business this job for is to um figure it out is to compete and it’s going to be a collective you know decision these guys will help uh determine some of that you know it I’ll do my part and and diving in the film and seeing what matchups work and things like that but the biggest thing for us is that we we want a competitive team uh we want starting with High character all of our guys have that um and and we want to continue to to add wins to our belt and and and Deon brings that Willie uh Deon is a high high level rebounder at at the guard position what is that element going to do team it’s going to be huge for us um it it was something that we we tried to improve on this season uh but it’s definitely going to be a added Focus going into training camp and Jon he adds to our ability to rebound from the guard position you know you look at our team it’s going to be some times when we play small and it’s going to be to our advantage but the the key fundamental when you’re playing Smalls you have to finish possessions and it’ll be pretty much a focal point going in the training camp for us You’ had several connections key here you have a relationship with Zion already you have a relationship bu with Coach green and of course David gri already expressed the the desire to have you on this team how welcoming do all those factors come into play when it comes to you feeling welcomed and at home in a new area that was a question the fact that you have all the relationships like how welcom does that feel I mean it feel it feels great to just them welcoming me not just me welcoming my lady you know our children my brothers uh everything’s been smooth uh you know like I said from afar I could see the family the Brotherhood within the players but just the the family with the organization uh and everything’s been great you know for for my family whe whether it was Finding houses finding schools for the kids uh and just communicating uh it’s been great so you know that’s a that’s a great sign you know going into a new situation you know but at the end of the day you know I know how to adapt in anything uh you know like I said natural leader not just for the sport I play just me as a person uh so you know we’re we’re excited you know me and my family’s excited and we appreciate everything and everybody and uh like I said we’re here to build you talked already to uh Zion you mentioned herb how many of your other new teammates have you talked to and more importantly have you already started thinking about what you guys want to do during the rest of this offseason like are you thinking about in your head organizing the guys getting together all that type of stuff I can’t forget about bi that’s that’s my brother we go back with the same uh High School class we was at all American camps together so we built the relationship in high school and uh that guy he’s he’s a great person he works hard he wants to win we’ve been communicating he was actually somebody that called me in the morning before this even happened and asking me like you think it’s going to happen and I had no clue I’m like what are you talking about and then obviously later in the day you know I get traded to New Orleans but you know I’m I’m excited about all them guys I talked to Trey uh you know Jose situation I don’t know what’s going on with that but I’ve talked to him been talking to him so a lot of these guys you know you real recognize real no matter where you’re at in life and uh you know I’ve been fans of all these guys you know they’ve been fans of me as a person a basketball player and we communicated but you know obviously you know I’m excited to get to know all them and like I said push all them but I want them to push me too and uh you know the rest like I said starts in summer league uh you know everybody whoever shows up you know we’re going to get together support the guys go to dinner and we’re just going to continue to plan uh because is going to start with that that translate to the court you look at how San Antonio traded you after your best season there and then I think this past season was your highest scoring average of your career so far um and traded again is any aspect of that difficult and how does it inform your perspective on the on the profession you’re in as you enter this new chapter it’s a business uh it’s a business that I stay out of like I said when it comes to the front office and all these different things and you know you got to realize in NBA you have to win uh it’s not on one player but you know you always got to do his best for your team and you know sometimes those are hard things uh and I understand that like I said I understand the business but you know for me I keep the main goals the main goals and everything where it’s supposed to stay and like I said that’s working hard and being a great person and that’s the same thing that I try to tell young guys coming to the leag you know control what you can control and uh you know San Antonio was San Antonio Atlanta was Atlanta you know I’m in New Orleans as a pelican and I’m excited for that and that’s all that matters and they was already a great team they was already a great team to win 49 games and you know go to the playoffs that speaks for itself and uh I’m excited to come like I said help these guys they help me and just you know build something you know you want to build something and like I said though they were already a great team and I’m excited to come help you know the team get better you mentioned a few times the importance of of being a leader being a mentor for the younger guys as you matured how much do that become a emphasis for you uh being that presence in the locker room I mean it’s just always starting you know who I was as a kid I’ve I’ve never followed nobody uh you know it goes just you know the cards I was dealt in my life uh from a young kid you know I’ve always was the guy that just did my own thing and tried to do the right things always being smart and just just being a natural leader I never like I said I can’t fake it I don’t know how to be nobody else but de jante and uh you know coming to the locker room it ain’t me necessarily coming there saying oh you do this or you do that no it’s I can’t tell Zion to go work hard and I’m not working hard I can’t tell Trey to go you know watch film and I’m not watching film so it’s just stuff you know Natural Things uh but keeping everything where it’s supposed to be you know preparing and knowing that you know every game counts every practice counts taking care of your body staying off your feet just doing the right things eating the right food you know just throwing that out there you know whatever it is to help better us as individual but also as a team and I think that’s all that matters what do you think about the potential to put deante in design in a pick and roll at the space out floor and the challenges in my ca for opponents I mean you said it it’s going to be a challenge um you know these guys are they’re great basketball players and it would not be a challenge no no no it’s a challenge for opposing teams okay okay not for us it’ll be a challenge for opposing teams but these guys are great basketball players so you put the ball in their hands and a lot of coaching is just that’s what it is just put the ball in their hands and get out the way and they figure out the game they’re smart they they all watch film they all work it out in practice they’re working it out in the huddles together and you know it doesn’t always have to be complicated but if it’s a pick and roll with Deon and Z setting it that’s a problem it’s a if it’s a pick and roll with Z handling and Deon setting it they got to make decisions and so it’s going to be a challenge for teams with with the guys that we have and it’s for us to continue to figure out all right before got a jersey presentation

Get introduced to the newest New Orleans Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray at his introductory press conference on Tuesday, July 9, 2024.

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