The Los Angeles Lakers surprisingly lost in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 playoffs. Following that early exit, the Lakers are expected to make moves this offseason, and they’re considered one of the favorites to be Trey Murphy III’s next team, according to Bovada Sportsbook.
The Denver Nuggets are the favorites to acquire Murphy from the New Orleans Pelicans at +500. The Indiana Pacers and San Antonio Spurs then come in at +700 each, and are followed by the Detroit Pistons at +750. The two Los Angeles teams are next, with the Clippers at +800 and the Lakers at +850.
Murphy would be a good addition to the Lakers. The 24-year-old averaged 21.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.7 blocks per game for the Pelicans before his 2024-25 season was cut short by a torn labrum in his right shoulder.
Murphy would be a quality third/fourth option for the Lakers, depending on what would happen with Austin Reaves. Most importantly, he is a solid three-point shooter, with a career average of 38.3%. Murphy is a servicable defender as well and would be an upgrade over someone like Rui Hachimura.
The Pelicans gave Murphy a four-year, $121 million extension in 2024, and under normal circumstances, would have no interest in parting ways this soon. These aren’t normal circumstances, though.
Following a disastrous 2024-25 season in which they had a 21-61 record, the Pelicans are gauging the market for everyone on their roster. We might have a fire sale on the cards.
As for what the Lakers would have to give up to get Murphy, you’d imagine Hachimura, who’ll earn $18.2 million in 2025-26, would be part of the package. Adding Dalton Knecht ($4 million) and Shake Milton ($3.0 million) would solve the salary matching problem.
The Lakers would also have to give up their 2031 first-round pick along with some pick swaps. That’s about as good of an offer as they can put on the table without including Reaves. Would this be an acceptable deal for the Pelicans? Perhaps, but they will get offers from other teams as well if Murphy is available. Players like him are very much in demand in the NBA.
You could make an argument that the Lakers should be using these assets to solve their biggest need at center. They can get a quality starting-caliber big with this kind of a package.
Scoring also isn’t really a massive issue for the Lakers with LeBron James and Luka Doncic on the roster. Sure, it wouldn’t hurt to have a player of Murphy’s caliber among their ranks, but they’d be better off addressing the issues that caused their downfall in the playoffs.
We listed out the three steps the Lakers need to take to become contenders in the West. If all those boxes are ticked, you would back them to go a lot further in the playoffs in 2026 than they did this year. It is a lot easier said than done, though.
