What a Trey Murphy-to-Celtics Trade Could Look Like This Offseason

The New Orleans Pelicans are reportedly listening to offers for Trey Murphy for the first time. Over the last several years, the Pelicans have been unwilling to move Murphy despite the sharpshooting forward being a popular name on many teams' shortlist. Even though New Orleans looked nowhere near competitive, neither David Griffin nor Joe Dumars really considered trading Murphy.

Until this offseason.

Heading into his second season as the lead decision-maker, Dumars is now entertaining trade offers for the 26-year-old. The asking price remains high, and this could still deter some teams, but Murphy reportedly has multiple suitors.

One of those teams is the Boston Celtics. The Athletic's Sam Amick reported that if Boston doesn't land Giannis Antetokounmpo this summer, Murphy will be an option for them.

In reality, the Celtics can trade for both Giannis and Murphy. Jaylen Brown will be the main return in the Antetokounmpo trade, which means that the Celtics would still have enough assets and flexibility to trade for Murphy. What would this trade look like for the Pelicans?

Celtics Have the Assets to Give Pelicans What They Are Looking for in a Murphy Trade

The Celtics have plenty of players and draft picks that should be of interest to New Orleans. Most two-man combinations between Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, Hugo Gonzalez, and Baylor Scheierman would be enough to match salaries in this deal. Pritchard has the most trade value out of that group, so the Celtics may be less willing to give him up on top of significant draft capital.

So a scenario that makes sense would be Hauser, Gonzalez, and three first-round picks. Since the Pelicans desperately want to trade into the first round of this year's draft, Boston's No. 27 pick may be appealing. New Orleans can then use this pick and any other future pick to move up all the way into the lottery.

Hauser and Gonzalez are the types of players the Pelicans should covet in a Murphy trade. Hauser is an elite shooter and would provide valuable spacing for Zion Williamson, Derik Queen, and Jeremiah Fears. He could at least replace some of Murphy's production on the offensive side of the ball.

Gonzalez, on the other hand, has a ton of potential. The 20-year-old showed flashes of elite defensive upside in his rookie campaign and has a chance to be a good three-and-D player for a long time. He may be the long-term Herb Jones replacement in New Orleans.

This package may be more future-centric for the Pelicans than Dumars might like. The front office seems to be under the impression that they can trade Murphy while staying as competitive as possible next season. That may be a pipe dream. Instead, if they can get value commensurate with the return the Pelicans are getting in this mock trade scenario, the Pelicans should seriously consider it.

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