The Golden State Warriors may be trying to acquire a Splash Nephew.
Golden State has been “open about their desire” to trade for New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy III, Sam Amick of The Athletic reported on Friday. Amick notes that Pelicans players like Murphy and Herbert Jones are expected to attract “serious interest” from contenders amid New Orleans’ rotten 4-22 record this season.
Murphy, 25, is a budding three-level scorer who is averaging 21.2 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists a game this year on solid 49/36/91 shooting splits. He also has plenty of defensive upside at 6-foot-8 with a 7-foot wingspan.
In Oct. 2024, Murphy agreed to a four-year, $112 million rookie contract extension with the Pelicans. Currently in just his first year of that contract, Murphy will likely fetch a premium on the trade market if New Orleans does indeed make him available.
The Warriors do badly need a player of Murphy’s profile. Outside of elder statesmen Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler, Golden State’s best perimeter defender is rookie guard Will Richard, who is undersized. Meanwhile, outside of Steph Curry, Golden State’s best three-point shooter is Buddy Hield, who is a lousy defender and is in the middle of a career-worst year with just 8.0 points per game. Murphy could hypothetically solve both those issues at once.
When it comes to the assets that the Warriors would have to trade, the likes of Hield and Jonathan Kuminga could be contract-match options while Richard, Brandin Podziemski, and Moses Moody fit as young upside pieces as well. While the Pelicans may be able to get a better return for Murphy elsewhere, the interest from the 13-12 Warriors (who have some glaring defensive issues in particular right now) is very much there.