One of the things that creates hype for the upcoming NBA season is the rollout of NBA2K. And with 2K26 early access coming out on August 28th, the hype for this year's game is starting to get extremely high. Every year, prior to the release of 2K, they release a list of the top 100 players in the upcoming game.
So far, 2K has released a little over half of the top 100 list across social media. This list features 4 Pelicans: Dejounte Murray, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, and Zion Williamson, who all rank within the top 37. Murray and Jones are both 81s and rank 87th and 85th, while Murphy is an 82 and ranks 78th on the list, one spot ahead of Cooper Flagg. Zion is 87 and ranked 37th on the list, one spot behind Darius Garland.
Other than Dejounte Murray, the overall that bothers me the most is Trey Murphy, who ended 2K25 as an 84 overall yet comes into 2K26 two overalls lower.
Murphy did everything needed to get an overall boost
Murphy was one of the league's best bucket-getters last season, averaging 21.2 points. This type of scoring production puts him on the same level as people like DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, yet Murphy is an 82 overall, and they are both 85 overall.
Murphy has a unique skillset at 6'8" as someone who can score at all three levels, can defend, is a good shooter (36.1% from three), and is an above-average passer for his size. This type of skillset not only holds value in real life but should also hold value in a video game, where the more things you can do well, the higher your overall rating will be.
I understand 2K may think they need to give Murphy room for improvement, as throughout the season, they like to show player progress through rating increases. However, if he takes another step from what he is already producing at 21.2 points per game, he would be propelled into All-Star conversations. Which in NBA2K typically means you're an 86-88 overall, making it make less sense why Trey is only an 82 overall, as to get to All-Star status, he'd have to jump 4-6 ratings.
Trey Murphy's rating alone shows you how flawed 2K's rating system is. The common trend is that if you aren't already an All-Star player or in a big market, you'll never get the proper respect you deserve from 2K. I guess NBA2K is the Pelicans' latest doubter and will be another reason for this squad to band together and have a great 2025-26 campaign.