RealGM

Apologies if this is way off this is not in my wheelhouse but they look fun so giving it a shot anyways…

Hawks Out: Murray, Hunter, Okongwu/Capela
Hawks In: Ingram, Herb, Nance

Pelicans Out: Ingram, Herb, Nance
Pelicans In: Murray, Hunter, Okongwu/Capela

**Pelicans take your pick of OO or Capela deal works both ways according to a trade machine I used.**

Hawks reasoning - Hawks shopped Murray once already. I think they’ll try again this offseason. The fit next to Trae wasn’t good but Herb is an a good 3&D guy next to Trae and Ingram gives them a scoring wing to take some of the offensive scoring volume pressure off of Trae. Hawks take Clingan or Sarr at #1 to tandem with Capela or Okongwu (whichever is kept). Nance is probably cut just included him to make the deal work.

PG: Trae
SG: Herb
SF: Ingram
PF: Johnson
C: Okongwu or Capela/Sarr or Clingan

Pelicans Reasoning - Pelicans retool the roster and get out of a potential bad contract situation with Ingram and experiment with a fit of Murray instead. Murray provides comparable scoring and is on a good contract locked up already. Hunter gives them a nice young wing and Okongwu or Capela a good finishing center to replace Valencuinas.

PG: Murray
SG: Hunter / McCollum?
SF: Murphy III
PF: Zion
C: Okongwu or Capela

I can’t really see the Pels trading Ingram and Herb. I know Ingram had a terrible last 6-8 games, but you trade Ingram because you have Herb and go find a different look as a secondary piece of Zion... Or you trade Herb to upgrade else where around Ingram/Zion.

I know NOP can go pay for a new SF, but this trade isn’t worth having to do all that work, it’s not good value. Okongwu is exciting and I think NOP would pay a lot to put him next to Zion. But not Herb a lot..

Capela's game is declining & he's expiring ageing player. OO is now entering his prime with 4yrs control of what could be considered a value contract. He appears ready to start but is an unproven starter where Herb just won 1st team defense while shooting 40% on good volume starting. Capela & OO value is nowhere equal for NO's to pick an option. With OO in the deal Hawks are giving up more value but for me Herb is both a proven starter & more valuable than either player coming back, (not in trade value) but to NO's (Intangible value). I don't like the swap. NO's would be downgrading Herb to Murray to net Okongwu while giving up BI's player value because of the financial risk to ultimately save questionable money.

My assumption is you're valuing Murray over BI. If you have Capela as an option with OO. Which is wrong in itself as OO>> Capela, from player value to contract value.

Hawks fans don't value BI & his contract/risk either but from a player perspective for me/NO's, I wouldn't trade either BI or Herb for Murray straight up. The minute a 20yo Daniels can punish teams for leaving him open, NO's have a better option to Murray already on roster & at better cost control point, which is where a lot of Murray's value is in this deal in swapping BI, his value contract to BI's risky/extension.

BI 50m + Murphy's extension + Herb 12m + Daniels 6m rookie contract platooning = 68m, with no starting C but cap space to sign one & draft pick to draft one or maybe a C comes back in trading CJ to shed salary.

Which is a much better option than

00 20m + CJ 35m + Murphy's extension + Murray 30m = 85m, with no Herb but OO at C who could prove to be an undersized starter not being proven.

Without CJ going out there's a lot less interest in Murray. The purpose of Murray was to upgrade CJ defensively. With CJ still in the rotation with Murray, Herb is the better 2 way player & the main reason NO's were top 6 in defense with him being the only + defender in the starting rotation. Where were Hawks ranked with Murray's defense ?

NO's GM may differ in opinion for the same financial reasons Hawks don't want BI but I have no interest in swapping BI for Murray. BI is a versatile wing that can play 2-4, which would allow NO's to platoon Murphy & Daniels according to matchups, if they dump CJ to free up money & reduce risk of extension. Where Murray loses defensive value outside of playing point, which is why after paying a hefty price for him (trade value) vs (intangible value), he's on the move again as Hawks couldn't play him off Young where his defense has taken a big hit since being traded.

I don't plan for NO's to replicate the Hawks overpay.

Pels aren't trading Herb.