The New Orleans Pelicans reportedly are willing to trade anyone but Yves Missi, Herb Jones and Trey Murphy III after their 5-22 start to the 2024-25 season.
“While naturally resistant to trade inquiries for their younger gems — Herb Jones, rookie Yves Missi and Trey Murphy III — word is that the Pelicans are essentially open to trade pitches for pretty much anyone else on the roster apart from those three amid a 5-21 start and more injury woe than even Philadelphia,” NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer wrote.
Injuries have really derailed the Pelicans season, as Zion Williamson is currently out of the lineup and has only played in six games. Not only that, but the Pelicans are currently without Jose Alvarado, Jordan Hawkins and Brandon Ingram as well.
Ingram, who is in the final season of his contract, could be a prime trade candidate if the Pelicans don’t see him as part of their long-term future.
It makes sense that New Orleans has a short list of players that it is unwilling to include in trade talks. Murphy recently signed an extension with the franchise, and the former first-round pick figures to be a building block for the future.
This season, he is averaging 18.1 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game while shooting 41.7 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from 3.
Jones is also under contract for the foreseeable future in New Orleans at a reasonable price. He signed a four-year deal prior to the 2023-24 season and is set to make less than $54 million in total over the course of the contract.
As for Missi, he was New Orleans’ first-round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft and has come around as an important rotation piece at the center spot. He’s averaging 9.2 points, 8.5 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 blocks in 25.7 minutes per game. The rookie has started 20 of the 26 games that he’s appeared in for New Orleans.
While it’s unclear if many of the veteran pieces on the Pelicans roster (Ingram, Williamson, C.J. McCollum and Dejounte Murray) will have a market at the trade deadline, it appears New Orleans is content with moving on from this current core if the opportunity arises.
Williamson – a former No. 1 overall pick – is by far the most polarizing option given his talent, but injuries have held him back from being a perennial All-Star in the NBA.
New Orleans is currently in last place in the Western Conference, 1.5 games back of the No. 14-seeded Utah Jazz.
