Top trades Warriors must offer Pelicans for Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones

The The Golden State Warriors are not where they imagined they would be with more than a third of the season already gone. They currently sit in 9th place in the Western Conference standings with a substandard 13-15 record, and their team looks like a shell of the one that defeated the Houston Rockets in seven games in the first round of last season’s playoffs.

Throughout the season, the team was plagued by a sense of weakness. It didn’t help that the Warriors stars, such as Stephen Curry and Jimmy Butler were in and out of the lineup with various injuries. But this Dubs team, even at full strength this season, hasn’t exactly been impressive.

The Jonathan Kuminga’s situation continues to take center stage for the Warriors, as the clock ticks down on the 23-year-old forward’s stay in the Bay. Kuminga can score a rock and it was about two weeks earlier this campaign that he accepted his duties as a player. However, Kuminga has ambitions to become a star, and as long as Curry is on the team, that won’t happen.

Cummings’ best utility for the Warriors franchise is as a trade tool, and there are growing rumors that the Dubs are exploring trade scenarios that would bring in either Trey Murphy or Herb Jones in of a New Orleans Pelicans a team that has been playing better basketball lately, but is still stuck at the bottom of the Western Conference standings.

Considering the assets the Warriors have (or lack of), it will be nearly impossible for them to get both. They’ll have to choose one over the other, and here are the potential packages they can put together for either of them.

Warriors go ultra-aggressive for Trey Murphy

Warriors get: Trey Murphy, Kevon Looney, Jordan Hawkins

Pelicans acquire: Jonathan Cumminga, Buddy Hield, 2026 GSV first round pick (top five protected), 2027 GSV first round trade, 2028 GSV first round (top three protected), 2029 GSV first round trade, 2032 GSV first pick

The Warriors would surely want to work out any trade package they could bring to the table for Murphy with Cumminga’s contract. Now, it’s not very likely to The Pelicans are interested in keeping Kuminga in the long run.

For starters, Kuminga won’t have much of the ball for the Pelicans — not when Derrick Quinn and Jeremiah Fears are considered the future of this team. Those two will be a priority for the coaching staff, and representing the NBA this early in their careers would do the world of good for their development.

And then there’s the matter of Zion Williamson still being on the team. Williamson needs the ball in his hands to be effective; he has made many strides in his game and has made a career as a freight train to the hoop. A lineup gap with Williamson and Cummings together would be pretty bad.

Jordan Poole and Dejounte Murray (when he returns) will also have to command the ball. There will be a lot of mouths to feed in New Orleans, and Kuminga will find himself back in the order – not exactly an ideal destination for him.

But Kuminga is the Warriors’ best trade asset in terms of making a deal, and the Pelicans, if they were to trade Murphy to Golden State, would have to accept him as a center, only to trade him later as well.

Taking into account Cuming’s substandard performance of late (he was also out of the rotation in recent weeks before head coach Steve Kerr brought him back), his league value shouldn’t be too high. He is all potential at this point. The Pelicans will have to extract a high price from the Warriors to turn a player who does nothing for them into a starter for the foreseeable future in Murphy.

Murphy’s fit with the Warriors is easy to describe; he’s a knockdown shooter who can attack the shutdown, and the emergence of Quinn as a playmaking center has led to an even greater improvement in Murphy’s off-ball movement. He’s a perfect fit for a movement-pace-space attack that relies on passing, as Murphy’s off-the-dribble game isn’t as advanced as the other strengths of his game.

Trading three picks in the first round, as well as trading two picks, would hurt a Warriors team that is in the final games of the Curry era. But that’s it the price a team must pay to acquire it a new star with a controlled price that fits the team to a T. The New York Knicks and Orlando Magic paid top dollar for Mychal Bridges and Desmond Bain; expect the Pelicans to command that kind of price tag for Murphy as well.

Kevon Looney will also return to the Warriors in this trade scenario, helping to calm the fans at the very least. Buddy Hield, in turn, will have to leave for the Big Easy, but the arrival of Jordan Hawkins, a young shooter in need of a career revival, could help fill the void Hield’s departure would create.

The Warriors, not exactly known for being aggressive in the trade market, may find this cost too steep. In that case, they can go after Jones.

Herb Jones strengthens the Dubs defense, gives the team energy

Warriors get: Herb Jones, Kevon Looney

Pelicans acquire: Jonathan Cumminga, 2026 GSV first round pick, 2027 GSV first round trade, 2028 GSV first pick (top 10 protected)

There will always be a demand for a player of Jones’ skill set and caliber. The man is a defensive locking machine who racks up steals like nobody’s business. In fact, he comes out of an eight-steal night in which he chased Kevin Durant all night.

Jones’ versatility on defense makes him destined to eventually play a big role on a struggling team. Rival teams are already vying for his services, as many have called the Pelicans and inquired about his availability in a potential trade.

Usually, it is the trade market that decides how much a player will get in a trade. And to that end, with a team like the Los Angeles Lakers on the trail of Jones, the Warriors must act quickly if they want to bolster their defense with the addition of Jones.

The The Pelicans considered Jones a pillar of the franchiseand it’s not hard to see why. Any winning team would want anyone as solid on defense as he is. And with New Orleans looking to win especially with their 2026 first-round pick to deal to the Atlanta Hawks, Jones won’t come cheap.

Warriors must be ready for this. The Pelicans will demand multiple first-round picks for Jones. Alex Caruso only went for Josh Giddy, but Giddy was a highly regarded prospect who has a good statistical profile. Kuminga is nowhere near the caliber Giddei was when the Oklahoma City Thunder traded him.

Furthermore, Caruso was in the final year of his contract when OKC acquired him. Jones, on the other hand, is according to the contract until the 2028-29 season (with a player option for the 2029-30 campaign). Caruso was also 30 years old at the time of his trade; Jones is currently only 27 years old.

Trading two first-round picks, as well as trading picks that would line up with Cummings, could lead the Pelicans to trade Jones. But are the Warriors even so close to winning a title that adding Jones, someone with a limited offensive game, would be worth the risk?