Trey Murphy III would be a perfect long-term answer to the Detroit Pistons’ power forward question, so Trajan Langdon will be monitoring his old team, the New Orleans Pelicans, closely this season.
The Pels are already stuck in no man’s land after one offseason of Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver, who inexplicably traded an unprotected 2026 draft pick to move up for Derik Queen, who promptly got hurt.
It was a risky move for a team that is not likely to compete for a playoff spot in the Western Conference unless there is a miracle, and it seems far more likely they’ll be hovering near the bottom again.
It’s hard to imagine this version of the Pelicans staying healthy long enough to be good, and if they are terrible next season, there will be plenty of teams calling about Trey Murphy III, who is New Orleans’ best trade asset.
TMIII is an elite shooter who can defend and make plays from the wing, which is precisely what just about every NBA team is looking for, so if the Pels were to put him on the trade block, there would be plenty of interest.
There are teams out there that could certainly trump any offer the Pistons were to make, but most of those teams (IOKC, Houston) aren’t really in a position to go after a guy like TMIII, as they are already deep and expensive at his position.
With Tobias Harris on an expiring deal and no long-term replacement, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the Pistons chase Murphy, and they would have one advantage.
The Detroit Pistons are stacked with Troy Weaver guys
Once Troy Weaver identifies one of “his guys” that fondness seems to last forever. We saw Weaver make bad trades for Marvin Bagley III and James Wiseman just because they were players he liked in the draft.
No team has more Weaver players than the Pistons, and it’s possible Detroit could use one of them to try and pry TMIII away from the Pelicans.
There were rumblings around Jaden Ivey in Summer League (though not coming from the Pistons) with some rival front offices predicting he’ll be traded at some point for a better fit with Cade Cunningham.
That is all speculation at this point, but a trade built around Ivey could work and we know he is a Weaver guy. Could we see Trajan Langdon and Troy Weaver swap the picks they made?
The Pistons still haven’t committed to Ivey with an extension, and until they do, his name is going to come up in trade chatter.