Trey Murphy III has popped up as a trade target for the Boston Celtics yet again. Even after the blockbuster Jaylen Brown trade, the New Orleans Pelicans forward is still on their radar. The only problem is that now, getting a trade done is even more complicated.
With the Brown trade completed, it's abundantly clear there are only two ways in which Murphy can feasibly become a Celtic: either by trading Derrick White or the newly acquired Paul George. It's fair to say that that's going to be a little hard.
No matter what you may think of White after having a bit of a down season on the offensive side of the ball, Pelicans reporter Shamit Dua confirmed that White wouldn't be on the table in a trade.
They could get it done with Derrick White, but given all the reported information, I don't think he would be on the table.
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) July 2, 2026
So that leaves George, who, lest we forget, the Celtics have been endlessly criticized for acquiring in exchange for Brown. Well, if New Orleans didn't want Brown - and if they did, they would have made a deal swapping Murphy for him (why didn't they?) - they certainly wouldn't want George.
Making it even harder for them, NBA Insider Jake Fischer revealed during his latest live stream that Boston would have to include some draft capital to move George's deal.
Jake Fischer said from conversations he’s had around the league the Celtics would have to pay to get off Paul George’s contract
— John-Griner Canady (@Johng_c) July 2, 2026
“If the Celtics wanted to move Paul George now, I’ve heard it would cost them a first-round pick”
Not to mention, to make the contracts work, New Orleans would have to include one of Dejounte Murray or Jordan Poole to get the deal done. They probably don't want to do that for someone whose contract is seen as among the worst in the NBA.
No, the Anfernee Simons trade exception won't work either
Trade exceptions are really hard to understand, especially with the NBA's tax aprons, but CBS Sports' Sam Quinn clarified that even though the $27.7 million TPE Boston has from trading Anfernee Simons would be enough to absorb Murphy's deal ($27 million), it's actually not that simple.
No they can’t. They have the trade exception but they’re roughly $8 million below the first-apron hard cap they created by signing Mitchell Robinson to the non-taxpayer mid-level exception. They’d have to send out $20ish million to absorb Murphy. https://t.co/TMXE4VfGFI
— Sam Quinn (@SamQuinnCBS) July 2, 2026
So, this is doable, but it's hard to figure out how to get a deal done. Murphy is an excellent player, and it makes sense why Boston wants him - for that same reason, it also makes no sense that New Orleans is dangling him - but even with the newly acquired draft assets they got from the Brown trade, it feels like a Murphy trade is well beyond their reach.
Then again, Stevens has pulled off miracles in the past, but while he has gotten fantastic value from the players he has acquired, it's not like he's ripped off his trade partners in the past. Even if the Pelicans aren't the best managed team in the league, they have stood firm on their high price for Murphy for a reason.
The Celtics can pull this off, but will have to pull quite a few strings to do it.
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