The New Orleans Pelicans have reportedly already lowered their asking price for a Trey Murphy trade this offseason.
The New Orleans Pelicans have been getting approached about a potential Trey Murphy trade for months now, and at least recently, they have held strong at their asking price of at least three first-round picks in a trade. It appears that that might have been the original request from the front office.
Michael A. Scotto of HoopsHype has reported that the Pelicans have already budged slightly on their asking price, which was once up to four first-rounders and is now down to three. Don't expect New Orleans to budge anymore, or else that would be bad business.
The Pelicans could have gotten two first round picks by trading Murphy at last year's deadline and ended up with a lottery pick in this draft if they wanted do. The thing is, they don't want to trade Murphy. If a deal comes across their table that is too good to pass up, though, it appears that they would do it.
That line of thinking does making some sense. If New Orleans were to move Murphy, then they would be much better-equipped to rebuild and full turn this into a team build around Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen. If they don't feel as though they can truly win in the three years remaining on Murphy's deal, then moving him this offseason is the best value they will get.
There is speculation, as mentioned by Scotto, that teams around the league are not going to give up three first round picks for Murphy after the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Clippers got just two firsts for Jaylen Brown and Kawhi Leonard.
While those players are bigger stars and have more name value, Murphy is a completely different situation. This is a young wing who shot 37.9% on 8.6 threes per game last year. He also has three years left on his deal and a very team-friendly price. As mentioned before, there is no need for the Pelicans to trade him. The Celtics and Clippers were actively trying to rid themselves of these players.
New Orleans also has to consider that there is a chance that they don't end up with anyone near the level of Murphy with these picks. As things currently stand, Murphy could already be a perfect companion piece to Fears and Queen for a long time.
Another factor in this is if they believe Murphy will end up signing an extension to stay with the franchise in three years.
There are a lot of things that Joe Dumars and his associates in the front office are going to need to decide on before pulling the trigger on a trade. They'll continue to be one of the biggest talking points in the NBA until a deal is made.
