The Portland Trail Blazers have expressed interest in New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III, HoopsHype's Michael Scotto reports. However, the one obstacle to making this a reality is the reportedly high asking price.
New Orleans may be listening to offers for their rising star, but they aren't going to part ways with him unless it's an offer that blows them away. Scotto notes that some executives around the league are comparing it to the Desmond Bane package Orlando sent Memphis this summer. That included Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Cole Anthony, four unprotected first-round picks, and a first-round pick swap.
If that's truly the case for Murphy, this is unfortunately too steep an asking price for Portland to pull the trigger.
Rumored Trey Murphy asking price is too steep for Blazers
On paper, it's a perfect fit. Murphy aligns with Portland's rebuilding timeline at 25 years old. It makes sense for Portland to pursue him, considering he's exactly the type of player general manager Joe Cronin covets. This offseason, Portland has firmly established a defensive identity with a roster built around length, athleticism, and versatility.
We haven't seen that in action much lately due to injuries, but the early returns have been extremely promising. Adding Murphy would take that identity to an entirely new level, boosting Portland's postseason chances as soon as this season despite their 10-16 start.
While we're excited to finally see the Blazers in trade rumors as a team expected to be buyers at the deadline after missing out on last season's chaos, we must pump the brakes with this particular trade. The Pelicans are also understandably high on Murphy, and Scotto even adds that "it's unlikely New Orleans would part with Murphy."
Cronin has shown a willingness in the past to include draft capital in a trade if he feels that a player fits their rebuilding timeline, as was the case in the Deni Avdija deal with the Washington Wizards. Still, this Bane-like package has almost twice as many assets as the Blazers surrendered to land Avdija. The Blazers wisely bought low on Deni before his star breakout; this would essentially be buying a player at peak value.
Murphy is the two-way player championship teams covet, but questions remain whether he's capable of being a secondary option on a contender with his limited playmaking. The Blazers absolutely need to add more star power to contend out west, which was apparent after watching Oklahoma City and San Antonio go back and forth in their NBA Cup matchup. And while Murphy is an underrated star, he's not the type of piece to put Portland over the top.
As much as we'd love to see him in Rip City, Portland would be better off preserving this absurd amount of draft capital to land a true superstar. Just look at what is happening in New York. The Knicks sent five first-round picks plus a swap for Mikal Bridges. Now, they are rumored to be a top landing spot should superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo ultimately request a trade out of Milwaukee, but could easily be outbid by other teams around the league due to their lack of future assets. Murphy is a better player than Bridges, but the Blazers need to seriously consider whether adding him is the needle-mover that will propel them into contention.
They should absolutely pursue Murphy, but if it really is a Bane-like package, they'd be better off waiting for a bigger fish.