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Amid a disastrous 5-24 start for the New Orleans Pelicans, the team is reportedly willing to part with some of its stars in potential trades.
But while the Pelicans could make some stars available, others remain untouchable. Per The Athletic’s Jovan Buha, New Orleans “wants to keep” Trey Murphy and Herb Jones but has “been shopping” Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum. Buha also noted that the Pelicans haven’t explored trades for Dejounte Murray.
“Based on the reporting intel, Trey Murphy and Herb Jones are at a certain level for them. They want to keep them,” Buha said (44:20 mark). “Those are two guys that are going to have a high price to give up, similar to L.A. with Austin Reaves. Seems like Zion, and Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum are the three guys they’ve been shopping more in terms of their core starters, and Dejounte Murray has not.”
Though his performance has been subpar so far, Murray will have a high asking price if the Pelicans include him in a trade, according to Buha.
“I think the price for Dejounte Murray is still going to probably be high,” Buha said. “I don’t think they’re just going to sell him for, like, a first and matching salary. I would personally be surprised if he gets flipped for that type of package.”
Williamson has been injury-prone once again this season, playing just six games due to a hamstring injury. Williamson played 70 games a season ago, an encouraging change from the start of his career, but with injuries becoming an issue again this year, the Pelicans are reportedly willing to part ways with the player they hoped could lead them to a championship.
Both Ingram and McCollum have been decent this year, but have been far from enough to boost New Orleans to a championship level. Parting ways with one or both could result in valuable draft picks to start building for the future.
The Pelicans’ unwillingness to budge on Murphy makes sense given the year the 24-year-old is having. He’s averaging a career-high 19.2 points per game while remaining solid on the defensive end.
Jones, who landed on the NBA All-Defensive First Team a year ago, has been just as good on defense this year, averaging a career-high 1.9 steals per game.
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