Has the Door Closed on the Pacers Trading for Trey Murphy III?

The offseason for the Indiana Pacers seems mostly over after the signing of Kelly Oubre Jr. last week. That move puts Indiana roughly around $1.6M away from the first apron, which the Indiana Pacers are hard capped at.

Michael Scotto of Hoops Hype recently listed a handful of teams that were still interested in adding the two-way wing out of New Orleans, and the Pacers were not one of them. Scotto also mentioned that the Pelicans have come down on their asking price of four first-round picks to three.

On Monday, July 6, 2026, Shamit Dua of In The N.O., reported this: "On the Trey Murphy front, I'm told that while the Pelicans are fielding a steady stream of inbound calls, they have made it clear they'll only listen if they are blown away. Pelicans are content to keep Murphy and are not actively shopping him."

TM3 — Sep 30, 2024; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard/forward Trey Murphy III (25) takes part in Pelicans Media Day. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Indiana has preached all offseason long that they believe in their core seven and have hinted that they will not be breaking that group up. President of Baskebtall Operations, Kevin Pritchard, told the media after the NBA Draft Lottery that he wanted to give this group a chance.

After signing Oubre Jr. to his reported deal, it now makes it impossible to trade for Murphy III without giving up one of their core seven players, and it most scenarios, the Pacers would now have to give up two of them.

Before signing Oubre Jr., the Pacers could take back more salary in a deal to acquire Murphy III, but with how close to the first apron they are, it would take multiple moves to make a deal work, and for the Pacers to be in compliance with the leagues 14-man roster requirements.

How a Trade Would Have to Work

Jan 16, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III (25) in the second half against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Indiana could first elect to waive the non-guranateed contract of Micah Potter and get themselves to around $4.4M under the first apron. This would then give Indiana a little more financial wiggle room but they would still have to come up with over $23M in salary to legal do the trade.

Obi Toppin's $15M salary and Jarace Walker's 8.4M salary would put the Pacers right at $23.4M, making the Murphy III trade legal. This puts the Pacers around $900K from the first apron, and would take them from fourteen players on the roster to twelve,. This move would restrict them from signing any free agent with only $900K of space.

Because of that, Indiana would then have to find a trade that works to get them enough players to reach the 14 player requirement. This would require Indiana trading one of their other core players because Sheppard's salary of just over $5M is too small to get enough players back in a trade.

A Trade That Works Mathematically

deal — Dec 15, 2023; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Indiana Pacers forward Obi Toppin (1) dunks guard T.J. McConnell (9) pass during the game against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Washington Wizards defeated Indiana Pacers 137-123. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Mathematically, Indiana could pull-off this trade for Murphy III, but it would really impact the roster depth. Here is the trade: Obi Toppin, T.J. McConnell, and Jarace Walker for Trey Murphy III, Saddiq Bey, and Karlo Matkovic. This deal would mean that Indiana takes back $1.4M in salary which fits right under their $1.6M

You wouldn't have to cut Potter in this scenario and it gets Indiana a perfect player-for-player swap to keep them in roster compliance. However it completely dissipates the roster depth. Indiana would have to expand this into a three-team deal to find a backup point guard and a backup power forward to replace McConnell and Toppin.

I lay all of this out to say, the likelihood of this deal happening, specifically in the offseason, is all but a pipe dream. While Trey Murphy III is a terrific player, it would cost at least two unprotected first round picks, two crucial pieces from the Pacers core, and more to get everything to legally work. And that doesn't even include whether or not the Pelicans would sign-off on the trade.

Final Thoughts

So yes, there is a way to get the deal done, but it is extremely unlikely. If Indiana felt it had a chance to add Murphy III they wouldn't have signed Kelly Oubre Jr. in free agency.

If you mix that in with the latest reporting from Michael Scotto and Shamit Dua, the Pelicans don't seem eager to make a deal for Murphy III unless it blows them out of the water. Indiana *could* offer more than I used in my example trade, but extremely unrealistic.

The Pacers could make a smaller move before the season starts, but making a significant trade like a deal for Murphy III is not realisitc. We can put this discussion to rest, at least until the NBA Trade Deadline...

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