Whole Truth wrote:A_dub06 wrote: I think you are over-evaluating advanced stats because Murphy even healthy this season. Of course the stats are going to paint a different picture when he’s struggled with injuries. And I really don’t think it’s debatable whether BI take enough 3’s or not, he doesn’t especially when you consider how many mid-range shots he takes. His injury risk is also high he missed of average 25% so a quarter of the games, that’s dangerous when paring him with an already often injured Zion and BI is 28 this season. It makes much more sense to keep Murphy which is why his name is never in trade discussions and every podcaster mentions that their sources say he’s untouchable. Lowe post, Dunc’d on, the athletic, Locked on, plus a few others have all said and that’s when they’ve had multiple credible guests on the show to verify.
bottom line is that they will trade BI for the best package they can get and not trade Murphy
BI is 26, not 28. Agree, it's not ideal to have 2 stars with injury concern on max contracts but if it means selling low, there comes a point the risk outweighs the return. If you went to the NO's board you would see I suggested to move Murphy into the rotation last year to trade BI for Brandon Miller, cap relief & a soft reset in the 2023 draft. They are 1 year late to it & I heard Langdon was on board in moving BI last yr. So you preaching to the choir. Murphy is one of the better fitting pieces with Zion chemistry & spacing wise, I don't expect him to be shopped but everyone has a price.
Stats also say the team was better with Murphy than Zion. That comes back to my point about the offensive overlap. Zion - BI - CJ didn't work because there's only one ball. Replacing anyone of the 3 with a role player resulted in a better outcome to varying degrees ZIon/BI/Daniels was the best balanced lineup. Where if Daniels could only punish teams for leaving him open, it would be even better. I'd run with that but they already made their decision & let Jonas walk. Trading BI for Murphy's spacing fit & looking for a rim protector to cleanup CJ's defense.
I fully expect NO's to try & trade BI before Murphy for many reasons. If they force a bad trade, that wouldn't surprise me either.
It’s kinda a lose-lose situation. Trade BI and you’re not getting fair value, trade Murphy and you’ll end up regretting it if not instantly. I could see Philly trading for BI but what assets do they have that NOR want? Ask too much and the teams will simply dare NOR to keep him where other teams could make an offer when he’s a free agent.
Well you were definitely correct in wanting to trade him last year where he was under another year of control. I just don’t think many teams want him at the price he’s going to ask for, which may work to the Pelicans favour. He’s going to be a RFA isn’t he? If so maybe things will look better after another year.