New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III has long been discussed as the ideal trade target for the Los Angeles Lakers. At 6-foot-7 with a 7-foot wingspan and armed with supreme speed, Murphy is precisely the type of athlete that thrives on a Luka Doncic-led team. He offers athleticism on defense and can give you plenty of secondary scoring (he averaged 21.5 points per game last season and is a career 38.2-percent 3-point shooter).
The question is, do the Lakers have what it takes in trade assets to acquire Murphy this summer, especially given the reality that he has multiple suitors?
Unfortunately, LA isn't among the few teams in the NBA that are flush with assets. This is why some people have left the Lakers completely out of the Murphy trade discourse. Then again, it's more complicated than that.
Don't completely rule out the Lakers from acquiring Trey Murphy III
Despite the tough odds, not everyone's shutting down the notion that LA can go get Murphy. During a recent episode of Jovan Buha's podcast, Buha's guest, NBA analyst Iztok Franko, wondered out loud about whether or not the Lakers could go the draft-pick route to entice the Pelicans on a Murphy trade.
"I don't know if three draft picks gets you ... Trey Murphy," Franko said. "Murphy is the ideal prototype of a young, athletic, fast, explosive player who is a good shooter, and I think we saw that wings that succeed now in the playoffs are not just specialized 3-and-D guys who stand in the corner, but are guys who can do much more. And I think if you are talking about speed and athleticism ... he's the guy who I really like [for the Lakers]."
The Lakers have two tradable future first-round picks (2031 and 2033), and they'll also be able to trade their 2026 first-rounder (No. 25) on draft night. In addition, they have first-round pick swaps at their disposal in 2028, 2030, and 2032.
Do the Lakers really want to sacrifice three first-rounders for Trey Murphy?
A team like the Oklahoma City Thunder could outbid the Lakers for Murphy in terms of player assets, but it's difficult to imagine anyone (OKC included) offering as many as three first-rounders for Murphy. That would be a lot of draft capital to give up for a superstar, let alone a player of Murphy's caliber. He's still highly valuable and young (turns 26 on June 18), but to answer Franko's question, I think that, yes, New Orleans would definitely stop and think for a hot minute about an offer for Murphy that included three first-rounders.
Whether or not the Lakers would actually want to sacrifice all of their tradable first-round draft capital for Murphy -- despite his awesome fit -- is another question. I think that's too steep a price to pay for Murphy at this point, especially considering the Lakers still have other roster needs, particularly at center, and one or two of those first-rounders might be useful (or even downright necessary) in other deals.
The Lakers are thus probably looking at two undesirable outcomes regarding Murphy. Either they miss out entirely on his market by being outbid, or they are tempted into an aggressive overpay that sees them sacrifice way more draft capital than they can afford to. It's a lose-lose.
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