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Inside The Warriors

Report: Warriors' Rejected Trade Offer for Trey Murphy III Revealed

The gap between what the Pels want and what the Warriors offered is detailed
Trey Murphy III
Trey Murphy III | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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The Golden State Warriors have had interest in New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III for months, but their offers have been rejected at each stop.

ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reported that the Warriors recently offered the Pelicans two first-round picks for Murphy.

Siegel added that the Pelicans want three first-round picks "and a young player they can add to their core, something the Dubs do not have to offer."

The Warriors have four intriguing players 24 or under in Yaxel Lendeborg (23), Brandin Podziemski (23), Gui Santos (24) and Moses Moody (24).

It's not clear whether the Pelicans are uninterested in any of these players because of their talent or their age.

The Pels' core of Derik Queen (21) and Jeremiah Fears (19) is so young that they might be looking for someone younger than 23.

Warriors Miss on James, Brown and Murphy

On Friday, the Warriors lost the LeBron James sweepstakes, as the four-time MVP chose the Philadelphia 76ers.

It's not clear if the Dubs were especially motivated to trade for Murphy to improve their roster for a James hunt, but it appears they won't be getting either.

Siegel also reported that the Warriors reached out about trading for Jaylen Brown, but the Celtics were immediately uninterested because they didn't want to take back Jimmy Butler or Kristaps Porzinigs.

All of this feels related.

The Warriors don't have the young players to trade for Murphy, let alone a star like Brown. If they did, perhaps they would have pulled off what the 76ers did by trading for Brown and signing James for the veteran minimum.

But when the Dubs had the young players to make a big win-now trade—aka James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga—they held onto them until they lost almost all of their trade value.

Now the Warriors are stuck with no obvious way to improve their roster via trade, and they don't have the cap room or the roster attractiveness to lure a big free agent.

Dubs Likely Have No Trade Pivot

The Warriors needed more talent to win a title when Jimmy Butler was healthy. Now, with him out for the a big chunk of the 2026-27 season with an ACL tear, they have an even bigger need.

The issue is the two players outside of Murphy that a team might make a push for—Anthony Davis and Michael Porter Jr.—don't seem likely to end up with the Dubs.

The Wizards reportedly have a massive asking price for Davis, while Steve Kerr reportedly doesn't have interest in Golden State trading for Porter.

If the Dubs don't make a big trade, they will be running it back with a similar roster.

They are testing how much mediocrity Stephen Curry is willing to endure.

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Joey Akeley
JOEY AKELEY

Joey was a writer and editor at Bleacher Report for 13 years. He's a Bay Area sports expert and a huge NBA fan.

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