The market for Trey Murphy III is warming back up. Days after In The Rafters reported that the New Orleans Pelicans had trimmed their asking price to the equivalent of three first-round picks, a fresh wave of reporting says the price has softened a touch more and that several teams have re-entered the conversation.
Yahoo Sports and ClutchPoints report that the Celtics, Pistons, Warriors, Clippers and Hawks all have varying degrees of interest in the 26-year-old wing. HoopsHype, meanwhile, frames New Orleans’s posture bluntly: the Pelicans would need to be “blown away” to move him, and are content to keep him if the right package doesn’t materialize. Both things can be true — a lower ask and a high bar — because dropping from four picks to three doesn’t mean the team is desperate to sell.
The most concrete framework reported so far runs through Atlanta. The Hawks, in need of perimeter scoring on the wing, have been tied to packages built around Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Onyeka Okongwu. Nothing there is reported as close, and other suitors are said to prefer a pick-heavy structure that would net New Orleans a third first to stockpile.
For a talent-and-availability desk, the Murphy case is straightforward on the talent half and complicated on the availability half. Murphy is exactly the kind of two-way wing that wins playoff series: he averaged 21.1 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game last season, shoots a career 38.2 percent from three, and defends multiple positions at 6-foot-8. He is also signed for three more years at roughly $87 million — a contract that reads as a bargain in today’s market, which is precisely why New Orleans can afford to wait.
The read here is patience, not urgency. The Pelicans have set a high price, nudged it just enough to keep the phone ringing, and shown no rush to close. Unless a suitor clears the “blown away” threshold, the likeliest outcome is Murphy opening camp in New Orleans with this same conversation resuming in the fall.
For fantasy managers, Murphy staying put is the friendliest outcome — he’s a top-of-the-rotation option in New Orleans with steady across-the-board production and firm usage. A move to Atlanta alongside another scorer could shave his shot volume slightly, while a pick-driven trade elsewhere could actually raise his role. Dynasty holders shouldn’t panic-sell; his contract and two-way profile keep his value stable regardless of address.
