Pelicans Are Back to Square One in Trey Murphy Trade Talks

Despite all the offseason buzz, the Pelicans are still in the same place with Trey Murphy they were all along.

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The New Orleans Pelicans have been the quietest team in the NBA this summer. They haven't brought in any new players except for their 58th-overall pick, Jaron Pierre Jr. As things stand now, it looks like the Pelicans are going to start next season with the same core they finished last season with. Sure, they may add a center for depth, but it's hard to imagine the Pelicans' roster looking much improved between now and the start of the season.

The odds of the Pelicans making a big splash this offseason are dwindling. Despite the loud buzz surrounding Trey Murphy, the Pelicans have stood pat. In fact, they are now signaling to interested teams that "they'll only listen if they are blown away," per Pelicans insider Shamit Dua.

Dua added that even though the Pelicans are fielding a "steady stream of inbound calls" to trade for Murphy, they are not actively shopping him and are more than happy to keep him.

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This aligns with earlier reporting that the Pels are looking for at least three first-round picks to part ways with Murphy. One has to assume that if the asking price was reasonable, Murphy would have already been traded. There are probably teams willing to give up multiple draft picks for Murphy, but the Pelicans' asking price has seemingly been too high.

There were reports last week that the Pelicans refused to give up Murphy in a potential Jaylen Brown trade. Given Brown's age and contract status and where the Pelicans are as an organization, this was understandable. However, it sounds like this was more about how New Orleans is valuing Murphy rather than Brown.

Now, the Pelicans are exactly where they were all along. When Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver took over last summer, Murphy was still a coveted name on the trade market. Despite coming off a 21-win season, the Pelicans were uninterested in trading Murphy. They kept the same core and won only 26 games, despite trying all the way to the end when the rest of the lottery teams were trying to lose.

Throughout the season up until the trade deadline, the messaging out of New Orleans was that they were waiting to be bowled over with an offer for Murphy. That offer never came and will likely not come right now.

At this point, this seems intentional. The front office doesn't want to seem unreasonable by not listening. But they know that no team is going to give up the trade package they are looking for. So, they look like they are doing their due diligence by keeping their options, when in reality, they have no interest in breaking up this team.

Unless Murphy specifically asks for a trade, he may not be going anywhere, which puts the organization and the fanbase back to square one: looking for ways to improve the team without having the assets and the resources to do so.