The Golden State Warriors’ push to get involved with the New Orleans Pelicans has taken on a clearer shape, and it may not hinge on Trey Murphy III at all.
With reports tying New Orleans center Yves Missi to Golden State, the conversation around a possible deal has naturally drifted back to Murphy, a wing the Warriors have been linked to more than once over the last 18 months. But there are multiple ways these two teams could work something out, and from the Warriors’ side, the cleanest path may be one that leaves Murphy out of it.
One obvious framework would send Kristaps Porzingis, Moses Moody and draft picks to New Orleans in exchange for Murphy and Missi. On paper, that checks a lot of boxes. In practice, it brings a couple of headaches: the teams would still need to land on the right number of picks, and Golden State would be giving up Moody while his value is down as he recovers from injury.
A more appealing route, at least from a cost-and-fit standpoint, would be a package built around Porzingis and picks for Missi and Herb Jones. That idea picked up steam in the same report that linked Missi to the Warriors on Wednesday, when Pelicans insider Shamit Dua noted that Jones is drawing attention around the league as his role shrinks early in the season.
"Multiple league sources indicate teams are monitoring Jones' situation and could pursue him if the Pelicans asking price (of two first-round picks) changes," Dua wrote.
Jones and Missi fit neatly under Porzingis’ $20 million salary, though Jones comes with a new commitment attached: a three-year, $67.6 million extension that starts next season and carries a $22.5 million average.
Even with that deal on the books, Jones could still make more sense for Golden State than Murphy. The Warriors already have Stephen Curry, Yaxel Lendeborg and Jimmy Butler set to return mid-season, which raises a fair question about whether another scoring wing is the right use of resources if Murphy ends up as the fourth option in the playoffs.
Jones, by contrast, gives them something they badly need: a point-of-attack defender who can actually take on the toughest perimeter assignments. Golden State doesn’t have much of that right now, and the numbers reflect it, with the team sitting 27th in defensive rating so far this season, even if the sample size is still small.
If the Warriors can keep Moody and spend less draft capital in the process, there’s a real case that Jones should be the prize alongside Missi rather than Murphy.
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For a young player like Lendeborg, those moments can carry more weight than the possession itself, especially with veteran teammates and officials already locked in on the next reaction. The sequence ended with double technical fouls assessed to Ty Jerome and Lendeborg, leaving the Warriors to manage not just the game at hand but the ripple effects of a rookie suddenly finding himself under the microscope. [Read more 🡒]