The Golden State Warriors have had interest in New Orleans Pelicans wing Trey Murphy III for months, but their offers have been rejected at each stop.
ClutchPoints' Brett Siegel reported that the Warriors recently offered the Pelicans two first-round picks for Murphy.
Siegel added that the Pelicans want three first-round picks "and a young player they can add to their core, something the Dubs do not have to offer."
The Warriors have four intriguing players 24 or under in Yaxel Lendeborg (23), Brandin Podziemski (23), Gui Santos (24) and Moses Moody (24).
It's not clear whether the Pelicans are uninterested in any of these players because of their talent or their age.
The Pels' core of Derik Queen (21) and Jeremiah Fears (19) is so young that they might be looking for someone younger than 23.
Warriors Miss on James, Brown and Murphy
On Friday, the Warriors lost the LeBron James sweepstakes, as the four-time MVP chose the Philadelphia 76ers.
It's not clear if the Dubs were especially motivated to trade for Murphy to improve their roster for a James hunt, but it appears they won't be getting either.
Siegel also reported that the Warriors reached out about trading for Jaylen Brown, but the Celtics were immediately uninterested because they didn't want to take back Jimmy Butler or Kristaps Porzinigs.
All of this feels related.
The Warriors don't have the young players to trade for Murphy, let alone a star like Brown. If they did, perhaps they would have pulled off what the 76ers did by trading for Brown and signing James for the veteran minimum.
But when the Dubs had the young players to make a big win-now trade—aka James Wiseman and Jonathan Kuminga—they held onto them until they lost almost all of their trade value.
Now the Warriors are stuck with no obvious way to improve their roster via trade, and they don't have the cap room or the roster attractiveness to lure a big free agent.
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