New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III has hovered on the Golden State Warriors‘ radar for years and remains a widely cited “dream trade target” for the Bay Area franchise.
The Warriors reportedly attempted to trade for Murphy during the 2024-25 offseason and once again at the 2025 NBA trade deadline, but to no avail.
Unfortunately, it appears the song remains the same, as the Pelicans have no interest in moving their sharpshooting wing who’s coming off a career-best year.
According to Yahoo Sports’ Kevin O’Connor, the Pelicans continue to rebuff teams calling about Murphy, as they plan to compete next season.
“League sources say the Pelicans have resisted all trade offers so far and hope to compete next season,” wrote O’Connor.
Warriors Trade Target: Trey Murphy
The Pelicans won just 26 games last season and yet did not earn a lottery pick after surrendering it to the Atlanta Hawks as part of last year’s Derik Queen trade. But in fairness to the Pels, they dealt with myriad injuries as Dejounte Murray missed the first half of the season, Jordan Poole missed over 40 games, and even their best defensive player, Herbert Jones, was hurt. This coming season, a fully healthy Pelicans team could compete for a playoff spot, justifying their decision to hold onto Murphy.
That said, everyone’s got a price, and the Warriors can dangle their tradeable first-round picks and entice the Pelicans to do business. Per The Athletic’s John Hollinger, rival teams expect the Pelicans to change their stance on trading Murphy once the LeBron James free-agency sweepstakes conclude.
“Chatter about a Trey Murphy trade, while lessened, hasn’t vanished and is one of many potential pieces of league business that could resurface once LeBron James’ next destination becomes clear,” Hollinger reported earlier this week.
Potential Warriors Trade Package
In a hypothetical scenario that the Warriors do make their three first-rounders available, the following trade scenario would work. (H/T Sportrac).
Warriors would receive: Trey Murphy III
Pelicans would receive: Moses Moody (via NTMLE), Myles Turner, unrestricted 2027 first-round pick (via GSW), 2029 first-round pick (via GSW) and 2031 first-round pick (via GSW)
Bucks would receive: Brandin Podziemski
For what it’s worth, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reported before last month’s NBA Draft that the Warriors feel Murphy may be “more obtainable” this offseason.
“New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III could be more obtainable in this transaction cycle, league sources said,” Slater wrote. “Murphy is a player the Warriors front office has circled for years as a prime wing who fits a need, the [Steve] Kerr system and, at 25, accomplishes the goal of getting younger.”
Murphy averaged 21.5 points and 3.2 made threes on a true shooting percentage of 61.3 last season. A movement shooter, he will be the prototypical fit in Golden State’s system. Understandably, the Warriors aren’t the only team that covets him.
Warriors Get Crucial Trey Murphy III Trade Update From Top Insider