There aren’t many players that would fit into the current iteration of the Nuggets better than Trey Murphy III of the Pelicans. The 25-year-old forward broke out last season, averaging 21.2 points and 5.1 rebounds on the season. The 6’8” Murphy can do a bit of everything, offering solid defense on the wing and is a noted marksman from the outside.
Equally favorably, Murphy is on a very attractive deal that has him locked down for the next four seasons at just $112 million. It’s easy to see why a player like this would be extremely appealing to every team in the league, and the Nuggets are no exception.
He would be a dream addition to the Denver lineup and would help create incredible spacing around Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray, while offering a level of creation and scoring on his own. Being able to impact the game on the other end and on the glass would just be another bonus of having this young two-way dynamo on the squad.
Why would the Pelicans trade Murphy?
This all begs the question: why would New Orleans want to trade Murphy? It’s a great question, and one that doesn’t have a clear answer, but yet, his name keeps popping up in trade rumors. The most recent reports came from Jake Fischer, who claimed that the Warriors and Spurs have shown interest recently.
The Pels have been aggressive in rejecting offers, but they’re clearly listening. New Orleans is a fascinating team, held hostage to an extent by Zion Williamson. In theory, they have a solid core with Zion, Murphy, and others. But again, with Zion being such a wild card, everything is in flux.
They also have an interesting potential pivot play if they decide to end the Zion era, as they drafted Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears this summer, two potential building blocks. The Pelicans also, bafflingly traded away next year’s first-round pick to move up and acquire Queen.
So, they need these picks to work out, and they need it to happen fast. They’ve already shown a pension for making some outlandish trades, and facing the prospect of handing over an early lottery pick next year, they may have some more tricks up their sleeve. A Murphy trade may seem unlikely and counterintuitive, but I’m not ruling anything out with this team.
If they caved and dealt Murphy, the problem for the Nuggets is they’d almost certainly be seeking multiple first-round picks, a price Denver can’t really pay. The hope would be that New Orleans is high on a few of the Nuggets’ young players like DaRon Holmes, Julian Strawther, and Peyton Watson. Perhaps a couple of them, with a decent salary, and whatever picks the Nuggets can muster up, gets it done.
I doubt that’s a good enough package, but with this Pelican’s front office, anything is possible.