Herbert Jones is someone who Los Angeles Lakers fans have photoshopped into purple and gold in abundance by now. In hopes of getting an upgrade on the wings, the New Orleans Pelicans forward has been constantly identified as someone who can help the franchise.
There should be no disputing that Jones could be a solid fit and a strong addition for the Lakers. The former All-Defensive Team selection is just not as good as Los Angeles can do during this summer, and is standing right in front of his own teammate, Trey Murphy III, who is the real best-case scenario.
With the value of draft picks going up, and the Lakers set to have three tradeable picks this offseason, Rob Pelinka and the front office are primed to revisit trade discussions with the Pelicans. Los Angeles had plenty of interest in acquiring one of the wings from New Orleans before last year's deadline. There is no reason to believe that feeling has changed.
That is especially true considering the Pelicans connection that has been added to the Lakers front office. Rohan Ramadas is coming from New Orleans. The phone call should come naturally during the offseason, and Murphy should be priority number one when it does.
Trey Murphy III can do so much more for the Lakers than Herbert Jones
There is no slight intended here toward Jones at all. When healthy and at his best, the Pelicans forward has been an elite defender who can add some level of productivity on the other end.
The immediate offensive deficiencies do stick out, and in particular, the shortcomings as a long-range threat are disappointing. Jones only has one strong season of shooting the triple well. That was in 2023-24 when he pocketed 41.8 percent of his 3.6 attempts per game.
Ever other season in the NBA, Jones has been a subpar shooter. The next best percentage the Pelicans wing has shot was 33.7 in his rookie year.
Jones would be adding value regardless of that. However, players like Luke Kennard and Rui Hachimura should have reminded everyone just how much having spacing and capable shooting threats around Luka Doncic matters. Besides, the Lakers already have a proven fit with Marcus Smart who they can bring back this summer to do similar things to what Jones does on the perimeter.
Murphy, on the other hand, gives you the best of both worlds. His offensive production speaks for itself, and his floor-spacing would be greatly appreciated by Luka. That fit would be pretty seamless.
Murphy is certainly not the defender that Jones has been, but he's no slouch either. The physical frame is certainly there to be more than capable. Those who have watched Trey in recent seasons could argue his ability has slipped a bit on that end. The counterargument to that is when the Lakers lessen his offensive burden, there will be more energy to exert toward guarding his matchups.
Ultimately the crux of the argument for why Murphy is the superior addition is simple: you get unquestioned two-way value instead of banking on the other guy to come around on the offensive end. Both would be good. Trey would be better.
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