The First Public Trade Demand Of The NBA Season Is In After Dejounte Murray Makes It Known He Wants Out Of New Orleans
Tyler Kaufman. Getty Images.The NBA season is currently only 24 days old. Most teams have only played around 11-12 games. It's safe to say we're still in the "early" stages of the climb up the NBA mountain.
So far, we've had Kristaps Porzingis tweeting that he doesn't have AIDS, endless Jaylen Brown vs Jayson Tatum drama, Marcus Smart throwing punches, Luka and Wemby playing at a level never seen before in NBA history, devastating injuries to key players/contenders, the first few weeks of the season really have given us nearly everything.
The one thing we hadn't had yet though, is a trade demand. Now you may think it's still too early for something like that to happen, but you have to remember this is the NBA we're talking about. If there's drama to be had, the NBA will find a way to make it happen.
Enter, Dejounte Murray and the New Orleans Pelicans
Giphy Images.Of course it's the Pelicans (no offense). Currently. New Orleans sits in 12th place in the West with a 4-8 record and a -7.4 point differential. They have the 18th-ranked offense, 27th-ranked defense, and 25th-ranked net rating. Very bad! Let's not forget, they fired their coach and brought in Jamahl Mosley after he got fired from the Magic in an effort to right the ship and improve things, and so far it does not appear that any of that is happening. The fascinating part is they actually do have a lot of intriguing players on their roster. You look at this group on paper, and it's a roster that should not be this bad. Sure, injuries don't help, but this isn't exactly a new trend
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And now, Dejounte Murray has made it known he wants out. As with all of these demands, the first thing you have to look at is the contract. Currently, Dejounte Murray is in Year 3 of his 4/$114M contract that he got while on the Hawks. Next year, he has a $30M player option
My guess, is the Pelicans have made it known they have no interest in offering him an extension (he is currently eligible). So if that's the case, then yeah, you demand the trade and get off what might very well be a sinking ship. If the Pelicans were willing to pay him, I think we can assume there'd be no trade demand. Obviously wherever he ends up will also be faced with that same decision, which ultimately will impact his market. Who may need a point guard right now?
As it turns out, the team right next to them in the standings, the Phoenix Suns. They too have had a bit of an underachieving start, and reports are already coming out that they need a point guard to help run the offense.
Well well well…
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You know who makes around the same money as Dejounte Murray? Jalen Green. He's in the exact same situation as Murray. He too has a player option for next season, and if the Suns don't want to pay him, that's the obvious choice as who to flip. They aren't moving Devin Booker, I can't see them moving Dillon Brooks, I can't imagine the Pelicans would want Miles Bridges, so really Jalen Green's $36M is probably their only route if they truly are interested.
Does a swap like that even move the needle for either team? Not really, but when you have zero interest in re-signing a player, your only move is to try and flip him for whatever you can get. The longer you wait, the more the value goes down since he can just turn down his player option and hit the market. If the Suns would rather pay Murray instead of Green, then it makes sense as to why they'd be in the mix.
In a way, it might be the best decision for the Pelicans as well. Murray is clearly unhappy, and the last thing you need is a locker room issue. You're better off getting what you can and moving forward with your young core. You may not win, but you aren't really winning right now anyway. The problem, is the Pelicans' front office HIGHLY overrates their players. In this situation, their leverage is sort of cooked, so just take what you can. Addition by subtraction if you will. I don't know how Jalen Green fits into what they want to do, but you can always try and flip him down the line as well if things don't work out.
The fact that we are still a few weeks away from Thanksgiving and already have our first public trade demand is yet another reason why the NBA is the best. Every day there's some sort of new drama. Today, it's our first trade demand of the year, and given how bad some of these teams have been so far, I would not expect it to be the last.