Cavaliers Acquire Pelicans Forward In Bold Trade Proposal

The Cleveland Cavaliers and New Orleans Pelicans could swing a very interesting trade this NBA season.

Apr 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Trey Murphy III (25) shoots a jump shot against Oklahoma City Thunder during game four of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Cavaliers clearly have some roster needs heading into the 2024-25 NBA campaign, but they didn't really address those issues during the offseason.

The good news is that the Cavaliers have until February to make trades, and Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey has identified a potential target for them: New Orleans Pelicans forward Trey Murphy.

Bailey thinks that Murphy would be a good fit for Cleveland and thinks that a Jarrett Allen-for-Murphy swap would benefit the club.

"Unless [Evan] Mobley shows some dramatic early-season improvement as a floor-spacer, there's an obvious logjam inside for Cleveland," Bailey wrote. "The court can start to feel might cramped when he's sharing the floor with Allen and both are starter-level talents. Moving the more experienced big for Murphy (or someone like him) would make the Cavs' first five more balanced and potentially more dangerous."

Following the Cavs' exit from the second round of the playoffs last spring, many wondered if they would break up the Allen-Mobley frontcourt pairing for stylistic purposes.

The Pelicans were actually rumored to be interested in Allen over the summer, so there could be a match here.

Murphy is coming off of a season in which he averaged 14.8 points and 4.9 rebounds over 29.6 minutes per game on 44.3/38.0/81.5 shooting splits.

The 24-year-old, who played his collegiate basketball at the University of Virginia, was originally selected by the Memphis Grizzlies with the 17th overall pick of the 2021 NBA Draft but was immediately traded to New Orleans.

Murphy struggled during his rookie year, but had a strong sophomore season when he registered 14.5 points and 3.6 boards across 31 minutes a night while recording a true-shooting percentage of 65 percent.

The youngster is exactly what the Cavaliers need, but whether or not they would actually part with Allen—who Cleveland just signed to a contract extension—for him is debatable.