3Any dream of trading for Trey Murphy III appeared just that for the Golden State Warriors during the summer, but that might just change if the meltdown at the New Orleans Pelicans continues following a horror start to the season.
The Pelicans put up a strong show on Friday behind 30 points off the bench from former Warrior Jordan Poole, yet still lost 126-124 to the L.A Clippers thanks to a game-winning buzzer-beater from Kawhi Leonard.
New Orleans are now 0-5 on the season as the only winless team in the Western Conference, with the franchise currently last in net rating even beyond the hapless Brooklyn Nets. The Pelicans can’t tank given they foolishly traded the rights to next year’s first-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks on draft night, but they might not need to anyway if things are going to continue going in this direction.
Pelicans disaster could bring drastic Trey Murphy III trade
Perhaps they believe that next year’s pick is a sunken cost and that they need to replenish assets through other means. One of those would be to consider trading Murphy who garnered plenty of interest from the Warriors and San Antonio Spurs according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line in August.
“Sources say that the Warriors have a strong affinity for Murphy and have made outreach to New Orleans as recently as this summer. Yet sources say that the Pelicans, to be clear, have batted away calls for the 25-year-old, valuing him highly,” Fischer wrote.
Murphy had a rough start to the season but found some form against the Clippers on Friday, recording 17 points, five rebounds, six assists and two steals while shooting 5-of-10 from 3-point range.
The 25-year-old is otherwise epitomizing the Pelicans’ sluggish start to the season, having averaged 13.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists on just 36.4% shooting from the floor and 30.3% from 3-point range through five games.
While New Orleans may shift their stance on Murphy if their struggles continue, it’s also worth wondering whether Golden State would hold the same level of interest now following Jonathan Kuminga’s excellent start to the season.
Kuminga would almost certainly have to be involved in a trade to reach the $25 million Murphy is making this season, not to mention additional draft assets the Pelicans would want. It’s unclear whether the Warriors would even make a one-for-one swap based on current form, albeit Murphy does have far more consistent production behind him after averaging 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds and 3.5 assists on 36.1% 3-point shooting last season.
