The New Orleans Pelicans have the worst record in the league and don't have a first-round draft pick for next season, which is probably the worst shape you can be in as a franchise. At this point, the only way they can make things better is start trading some of their players to get some assets back in return.
With a month left before the trade deadline, teams have been interested in several of the players on the team, but susprisingy, the Pelicans are looking to stand pat with their core group, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes.
“Sources: New Orleans Pelicans are disappointing the market in informing teams that Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears will remain with the organization past Feb. 5 trade deadline,” Haynes wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Murphy has been the one player on the Pelicans who has garnered the most attention ahead of the deadline, and contending teams seem to like the idea of what he could do for their team. Murphy as been playing well this season, and has been averaging around the same amount of points from last season.
Williamson would seem to be another player high on teams' radars as well, but the injury history is one thing that could scare some. He's only played 70+ plus games once in his career, but when he's on the floor, he's hard to stop.
As for Queen and Fears, there's no way the Pelicans plan on dealing them at the deadline unless a super enticing offer comes their way. Those two were a part of their draft class from the last draft, and they've shown promise this season.
As of now, the Pelicans are probably waiting for the return of Dejounte Murray to see if that can change the trajectory of their season, and they're also dealing with other injuries here and there.
