It makes sense why the New Orleans Pelicans aren’t keen on giving up talent. After all, they do have the worst record in the Western Conference (8-31). On top of that, they traded their 2026 first-round pick –with no protections –to the Atlanta Hawks during the 2025 NBA Draft. As a result, there’s no reward for them tanking this season. The best that they can hope for is that they can change their fortunes before the final buzzer.

It’ll likely be a lot easier to do that with their best players.

Pelicans Name 5 Untouchable Players Ahead Of Trade Deadline

On Friday, NBA on Prime insider Chris Haynes reported that the Pelicans have informed rival teams that Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Derik Queen, Jeremiah Fears and Herb Jones will remain with the organization through the trade deadline.

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.

— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 9, 2026

Based on the whispers around the league, this news will affect the Golden State Warriors the most. As they look to plug the holes in their sinking ship, they’ve been rumored to have interest in Pelicans swingmen Murphy and Jones. Murphy, who’s averaging 21.3 points per game while shooting 38.2% from 3, is a particularly attractive trade target.

Due to Murphy’s promising potential and Jones’s status as a premier 3-and-D role player, there are multiple teams eyeing them. With both Murphy and Jones guaranteed to be under contract through the 2028-29 season, those franchises that have been hoping to land one of them could have to wait until the end of the decade for that to transpire. However, they should have been prepared for such a scenario.

For starters, teams typically prefer to keep their key pieces. Furthermore, the Pelicans have been signalling for months that they’re unlikely to trade either player. That reluctance even extended to Williamson, who has been embroiled in on-court and off-court drama for the past couple of years. To be frank, part of the reason that New Orleans may prefer to keep Williamson is because they aren’t receiving the types of offers that they would like. Even so, it appears that the franchise will march forward with the perennial All-Star hopeful.

The Pelicans Have Settled On Their Core

It’s worth noting the grouping of Murphy-Jones-Williamson is the only three-man lineup with a positive net rating (+1.4) that Williamson has been in this season. That combination’s success hasn’t been sustained when joined by the Pelicans rookie studs, Queen and Fears. In just under 38 minutes, the five-man lineup of Fears-Jones-Murphy-Williamson-Queen has a -12.4 net rating. However, when considering the small sample size, there’s reason to believe that they can be much more effective in time.

Fears and Queen are green behind the ears but growing. The group as a whole needs to build on-court chemistry, refining their roles. If they can begin moving like a well-oiled machine, they have the right talent to pose a serious threat to any team.