The New Orleans Pelicans could have another suitor on their hands for Trey Murphy, but this time, it is a team that has something they want as well, in the Boston Celtics.
The New Orleans Pelicans consistently get asked about Trey Murphy, but aren't in a rush to trade him for draft picks, so most people get rebuffed. One team that keeps coming up and actually has an asset that could get Joe Dumars' attention is the Boston Celtics.
The Athletic's Sam Amick (subscription required) recently reinforced rumors with the following report on Friday morning:
"Boston could forge ahead with the [Jaylen] Brown-Jayson Tatum dynamic duo and look for other ways to upgrade the frontcourt. To that end, league sources say the Celtics are among the many teams with interest in the Pelicans’ Trey Murphy III (if they don’t land [Giannis] Antetokounmpo)."
The Celtics hold more weight as a potential suitor for Murphy because they have one asset that New Orleans could actually be interested in. Jaylen Brown is someone who has come up in a few trade talks this offseason as Boston looks to shift some money around.
While the Pelicans might not want to trade Murphy for picks and take the hit of that loss, they would be much more likely to listen to a deal that made them better in the immediate future. Brown is the type of talent who has proven he can carry a team to the playoffs by himself, which is not easy to find for a team like New Orleans.
Brown scored 28.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists last season for the Celtics. There is no doubt that he would make the Pelicans a better team. Boston would probably be worse off without him. The problem is that he's set to make an average of $61 million over the next three seasons, and the Celtics already have to pay Jayson Tatum.
Murphy would give them an elite wing to pair with Tatum at half the price, worth the slight downgrade for them with the additional talent they'd be able to bring in around them.
While a Murphy deal still doesn't seem likely at this moment, Boston is indeed a team to pay serious attention to. If they really wanted the wing, they could probably get him.
