RealGM

***** Trade would occur during the 2025 offseason *****

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NOP GETS: De'Aaron Fox
NOP GIVES: Trey Murphy & Herb Jones
WHY FOR NOP? The Pelicans consolidate and get the best player in the trade with the idea of moving forward with a youngish core of Fox (27), Ingram (27), & Zion (24). They also are on track to get a top 5 pick in this draft which hopefully give them an excellent player on a cost controlled rookie contract to help round out their core/starting lineup (and many of the top guys at the draft look like they'd be great fits with a Fox, Ingram, & Zion core). Ideally, NOP looks to move Murray for some more depth in the frontcourt to help balance the roster more after this trade.

PG - Fox / Murray / Alvarado
SG - McCollum / Hawkins / Reeves
SF - Ingram
PF - Zion / Matkovic
C - Missi

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SAC GETS: Trey Murphy & Herb Jones
SAC GIVES: De'Aaron Fox
WHY FOR SAC? The Kings hand the PG duties over to Monk full time and avoid Fox walking for nothing. In exchange, they add some much needed size/length in the frontcourt to help shore up their defense and offset Sabonis' length disadvantage while still keeping the floor spaced for Monk, DeRozan, and Sabonis to attack.

PG - Monk / Carter
SG - Jones / Ellis / Jones
SF - Murray / Huerter
PF - Murphy / DeRozan
C - Sabonis

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expiring Fox is not worth this, esp not to a pelicans team who might very well blow it up

Godaddycurse wrote:expiring Fox is not worth this, esp not to a pelicans team who might very well blow it up

Pretty much this. I think in a vacuum he's worth Murphy and Herb for sure, but if New Orleans is moving them then that means they're blowing things up and Fox doesn't really make sense in that scenario.

codydaze wrote:

Godaddycurse wrote:expiring Fox is not worth this, esp not to a pelicans team who might very well blow it up

Pretty much this. I think in a vacuum he's worth Murphy and Herb for sure, but if New Orleans is moving them then that means they're blowing things up and Fox doesn't really make sense in that scenario.

I don't know about that. Fox, Ingram, and Zion is a very solid scoring trio and they'd still likely have a top pick in the 2025 draft to add another impact player around this core on a cheaper deal (which will be important considering the money that will be tied up in those 3 players). You also have Missi who looks like a solid C and I'd be looking to flip Murray for more frontcourt help/depth.

Problem is if you are trading for Fox then you want players like Jones/Murphy to help you win right now. I think the Pels if interested would want to build an offer on Murray/picks right?

Texas Chuck wrote:Problem is if you are trading for Fox then you want players like Jones/Murphy to help you win right now. I think the Pels if interested would want to build an offer on Murray/picks right?

This is it. I think it's more likely that the Pelicans take any offer for Ingram, cut ties with Zion, and then build around Murray, Herb, Murphy.

But assuming a world where the owner thinks they can build off last year, here's my crack at it in the summer.

Kings out: Huerter, Fox, 2nd
Kings in: Murray, Murphy

Murray - Monk - Murphy - Keegan - Sabonis
Carter - Keon - Derozan - Lyles

Pelicans out: Murray, Murphy, 2nd
Pelicans in: Vucevic, Fox

Fox - Herb - Ingram - Zion - Vucevic
Jose - CJ - Hawkins - Yves

Bulls out: Vucevic
Bulls in: Huerter, 2 2nds

Save a few million, get a few 2nds.