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Amid a potentially quiet NBA trade deadline as far as star players goes, the next tier of potential midseason acquisitions could be robust if the asking price is right for teams.
Per NBA insider Marc Stein, Jeremy Sochan has received permission from the San Antonio Spurs to seek a trade as he has fallen out of the rotation for head coach Mitch Johnson.
Stein added that rival teams have said the only way the New Orleans Pelicans would seriously entertain offers for Herb Jones and/or Trey Murphy III is if they were to receive a “a Desmond Bane-type offer.”
Bane was traded from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Orlando Magic for a package of four draft picks and a lightly-protected pick swap.
Sochan would seem like a safe bet to get moved prior to the Feb. 5 trade deadline. He has only appeared in 11 of San Antonio’s last 24 games, averaging 7.5 minutes of play time during that span.
Given that Sochan is only making $7.1 million this season in the final year of his rookie contract, there shouldn’t be any issues with the tax or apron trying to fit his salary in with a new team.
Interested clubs can look at Sochan as a low-risk bet who could potentially help their rotation amid a playoff push. He is only 22 years old and has been an efficient scorer in his career, averaging 11.4 points per game on 46.8 percent shooting in his first three seasons prior to the 2025-26 campaign.
Given how valuable the market for three-and-D players always is, the value New Orleans has attached to Jones and Murphy isn’t a surprise. It would seem to make it highly unlikely that either player moves, especially because there aren’t a lot of contending teams that can afford to match that asking price.
Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks don’t have the draft capital to make that type of trade. The Golden State Warriors have the picks available and the ability to use Jonathan Kuminga’s contract for salary-matching purposes, but there is a huge risk-reward component because giving out that many future picks when Stephen Curry will turn 38 on March 14 could easily backfire.
The Detroit Pistons, who have been connected to Jones, are an obvious standout because they are a title contender right now, control all of their first-round picks through 2032 and have Tobias Harris’ expiring contract to use in a trade.
However, since the Pistons have also been cited as a potential landing spot for Giannis Antetokounmpo if he ever decides to ask out of Milwaukee, would they want to take their big swing now for a high-level role player like Jones or wait until the summer to see what happens with the two-time NBA MVP?
Given that the Pelicans are 12-37 right now and don’t control their first-round pick until 2028, they have to be open to anything and everything right now. But they also shouldn’t settle for anything because players like Jones and Murphy, who are both under contract through at least 2027-28, will maintain a lot of value going forward.