Trade Idea: Celtics - Pelicans

[Who]

How about flip this around some and do a trade along these lines:

Brown + Hauser
for
Zion + Murray + Picks?

NOP keeps their good young player in Murphy, which makes sense they would want to do.  BOS gets Zion, a potential upside players with some risk and a vet guard who is actually pretty good.  I think NOP would include at least 1 first with this as well.

It adds about $7M to BOS salary, so limits flexibility, but results in a pretty well balanced  team:

Murray
White
Tatum
Zion
Queta

what would be the point of this?  C's send out the best player in the deal for 2 guys with injury histories and do not get back the most desired player NO has.  The draft capital doesn't come close to making up the difference no matter how many NO includes because they only have their own to trade which will only be picks in the 20's if NO has Brown and Murphy and the rest of their roster

We are just spit-balling trade ideas.  The main difference between Murray and Murphy is that Murray is a better fit positionally.  I don't buy that Murphy is a guard.  He is a forward.  A promising young forward but if you have Tatum, Zion, and Murphy, the forward position is a bit crowded.  Murray is a guard and was a pretty good one before his injury.  Guard is a better fit on a team with Tatum and Zion.

I don't think it is likely that Brown is traded (I keep saying that).  But it is still fun to test out possible trades because I think there is some possibility that Brown would like to be traded.  Zion has huge risks but some here think he is better than Brown.  There is a chance that he will be as good if not better than Brown for the next 5 seasons.  I think the chance is slim, but it is a real possibility.  If that happens, this would be a really good trade.  If Zion eats himself out of the league, this would be a really bad trade.  Those are the extremes.

You know who else is a SF that plays shooting guard? Jaylen Brown. Murphy can easily play the 2. He?s bigger and more athletic than JB.

That is a cool graphic. I knew he defended 1-4 but 5s too? Nice.

[Who]

You may know Murphy's game better than me.  He feels like a forward, but I don't know.  Jaylen is 6'-6", Murphy is 6'-8".  Jaylen can certainly play either, defend either.  I am not sure you want either handling the ball all that much, as you expect with a guard.    Murray is a guard and to me is much more suited as that combo guard role, like Holiday, different than Murphy or Brown.  And that is a need many talk about.

The team was at its recent best with Holiday, White, Brown, Tatum, Porzingis.  I see the closest you can get to that is Murray, White, Tatum, Zion, and Queta.  Positionally, I like that better than White, Murphy, Tatum, Zion, Queta.  Not saying that Murphy doesn't have more value than Murray, just saying he is a better fit positionally for the team right now.

Is Trey Murphy 6-10 now? Not sure. I think he has grown since he was drafted. The best comp for Trey Murphy athletically is Mikal Bridges in NY. Trey Murphy is a taller longer version of Mikal Bridges. So Trey has the quickness and athleticism to check PGs and SGs like Bridges does, is a natural SF as Bridges is, but can check PFs as well given his superior height and length.

So a natural SF (best position) who is quick enough to play SG (2nd best position) if need be. He is a good option at PF as well. He can move in between those 3 positions well. PF would be his weakest of the 3 because he is not as physical. He more uses his quickness & length defensively than physicality. Again, like Mikal Bridges. NY uses Anunoby for physical defense on forwards. Mikal for quicker perimeter guys. Trey is more like that.

I wouldn't worry about Trey Murphy's ball-handling in this scenario because we would have Tatum & Zion at forward. Both of those guys have point-forward skills. So they are the secondary and tertiary ball-handlers to help D White. Trey Murphy would be the 4th ball-handler in that scenario and that is the right role for him - 3rd or 4th ball-handler, not primary or secondary ball-handler.

[Goldstar88]

You may know Murphy's game better than me.  He feels like a forward, but I don't know.  Jaylen is 6'-6", Murphy is 6'-8".  Jaylen can certainly play either, defend either.  I am not sure you want either handling the ball all that much, as you expect with a guard.    Murray is a guard and to me is much more suited as that combo guard role, like Holiday, different than Murphy or Brown.  And that is a need many talk about.

The team was at its recent best with Holiday, White, Brown, Tatum, Porzingis.  I see the closest you can get to that is Murray, White, Tatum, Zion, and Queta.  Positionally, I like that better than White, Murphy, Tatum, Zion, Queta.  Not saying that Murphy doesn't have more value than Murray, just saying he is a better fit positionally for the team right now.

Is Trey Murphy 6-10 now? Not sure. I think he has grown since he was drafted. The best comp for Trey Murphy athletically is Mikal Bridges in NY. Trey Murphy is a taller longer version of Mikal Bridges. So Trey has the quickness and athleticism to check PGs and SGs like Bridges does, is a natural SF as Bridges is, but can check PFs as well given his superior height and length.

So a natural SF (best position) who is quick enough to play SG (2nd best position) if need be. He is a good option at PF as well. He can move in between those 3 positions well. PF would be his weakest of the 3 because he is not as physical. He more uses his quickness & length defensively than physicality. Again, like Mikal Bridges. NY uses Anunoby for physical defense on forwards. Mikal for quicker perimeter guys. Trey is more like that.

I wouldn't worry about Trey Murphy's ball-handling in this scenario because we would have Tatum & Zion at forward. Both of those guys have point-forward skills. So they are the secondary and tertiary ball-handlers to help D White. Trey Murphy would be the 4th ball-handler in that scenario and that is the right role for him - 3rd or 4th ball-handler, not primary or secondary ball-handler.

Who, would you make that trade? Zion, Murphy and picks for JB. Bring back KP for the MLE. Obviously you?d have to do load management, but is this starting 5 best in the East in terms of talent?

Starters: White, Murphy, Tatum, Zion, Porzingis.
Bench: Pritchard, Scheierman, Harper Jr, Hauser, Walsh, Queta, Garza

[Who]

You may know Murphy's game better than me.  He feels like a forward, but I don't know.  Jaylen is 6'-6", Murphy is 6'-8".  Jaylen can certainly play either, defend either.  I am not sure you want either handling the ball all that much, as you expect with a guard.    Murray is a guard and to me is much more suited as that combo guard role, like Holiday, different than Murphy or Brown.  And that is a need many talk about.

The team was at its recent best with Holiday, White, Brown, Tatum, Porzingis.  I see the closest you can get to that is Murray, White, Tatum, Zion, and Queta.  Positionally, I like that better than White, Murphy, Tatum, Zion, Queta.  Not saying that Murphy doesn't have more value than Murray, just saying he is a better fit positionally for the team right now.

Is Trey Murphy 6-10 now? Not sure. I think he has grown since he was drafted. The best comp for Trey Murphy athletically is Mikal Bridges in NY. Trey Murphy is a taller longer version of Mikal Bridges. So Trey has the quickness and athleticism to check PGs and SGs like Bridges does, is a natural SF as Bridges is, but can check PFs as well given his superior height and length.

So a natural SF (best position) who is quick enough to play SG (2nd best position) if need be. He is a good option at PF as well. He can move in between those 3 positions well. PF would be his weakest of the 3 because he is not as physical. He more uses his quickness & length defensively than physicality. Again, like Mikal Bridges. NY uses Anunoby for physical defense on forwards. Mikal for quicker perimeter guys. Trey is more like that.

I wouldn't worry about Trey Murphy's ball-handling in this scenario because we would have Tatum & Zion at forward. Both of those guys have point-forward skills. So they are the secondary and tertiary ball-handlers to help D White. Trey Murphy would be the 4th ball-handler in that scenario and that is the right role for him - 3rd or 4th ball-handler, not primary or secondary ball-handler.

Who, would you make that trade? Zion, Murphy and picks for JB. Bring back KP for the MLE. Obviously you?d have to do load management, but is this starting 5 best in the East in terms of talent?

Starters: White, Murphy, Tatum, Zion, Porzingis.
Bench: Pritchard, Scheierman, Harper Jr, Hauser, Walsh, Queta, Garza

I love Trey Murphy but I do not feel good about Zion.

Jaylen & Tatum are a sure thing. They have proven what they can do together. I don't like breaking them up for less than a sure thing. Zion is not a sure thing. He has had too many injury problems and it is not clear whether he can be healthy moving forward or not.

So no. I don't do the deal.

I'd love to go after Trey Murphy by himself though. Give up 3 first round picks & the TPE. See if NOP bites on that.

[Goldstar88]

You may know Murphy's game better than me.  He feels like a forward, but I don't know.  Jaylen is 6'-6", Murphy is 6'-8".  Jaylen can certainly play either, defend either.  I am not sure you want either handling the ball all that much, as you expect with a guard.    Murray is a guard and to me is much more suited as that combo guard role, like Holiday, different than Murphy or Brown.  And that is a need many talk about.

The team was at its recent best with Holiday, White, Brown, Tatum, Porzingis.  I see the closest you can get to that is Murray, White, Tatum, Zion, and Queta.  Positionally, I like that better than White, Murphy, Tatum, Zion, Queta.  Not saying that Murphy doesn't have more value than Murray, just saying he is a better fit positionally for the team right now.

Is Trey Murphy 6-10 now? Not sure. I think he has grown since he was drafted. The best comp for Trey Murphy athletically is Mikal Bridges in NY. Trey Murphy is a taller longer version of Mikal Bridges. So Trey has the quickness and athleticism to check PGs and SGs like Bridges does, is a natural SF as Bridges is, but can check PFs as well given his superior height and length.

So a natural SF (best position) who is quick enough to play SG (2nd best position) if need be. He is a good option at PF as well. He can move in between those 3 positions well. PF would be his weakest of the 3 because he is not as physical. He more uses his quickness & length defensively than physicality. Again, like Mikal Bridges. NY uses Anunoby for physical defense on forwards. Mikal for quicker perimeter guys. Trey is more like that.

I wouldn't worry about Trey Murphy's ball-handling in this scenario because we would have Tatum & Zion at forward. Both of those guys have point-forward skills. So they are the secondary and tertiary ball-handlers to help D White. Trey Murphy would be the 4th ball-handler in that scenario and that is the right role for him - 3rd or 4th ball-handler, not primary or secondary ball-handler.

Who, would you make that trade? Zion, Murphy and picks for JB. Bring back KP for the MLE. Obviously you?d have to do load management, but is this starting 5 best in the East in terms of talent?

Starters: White, Murphy, Tatum, Zion, Porzingis.
Bench: Pritchard, Scheierman, Harper Jr, Hauser, Walsh, Queta, Garza

I love Trey Murphy but I do not feel good about Zion.

Jaylen & Tatum are a sure thing. They have proven what they can do together. I don't like breaking them up for less than a sure thing. Zion is not a sure thing. He has had too many injury problems and it is not clear whether he can be healthy moving forward or not.

So no. I don't do the deal.

I'd love to go after Trey Murphy by himself though. Give up 3 first round picks & the TPE. See if NOP bites on that.

I get that people are concerned with Zions availability, but is it also fair to say that given his age (25) and the fact that he lost 50lbs it?s a decent gamble to make. He also played in 35 consecutive games this season, which he had never done before. Everything is a risk. Just look at what happened to JT.

Too much money is tied up with Brown and Tatum. They need more talent at other positions and a more well rounded roster which is what the two teams in the Finals have.