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5 Pelicans blockbuster trade ideas to shake off late offseason doldrums
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- 5 Pelicans blockbuster trade ideas to shake off late offseason doldrums
5 Pelicans blockbuster trade ideas to shake off late offseason doldrums appeared first on ClutchPoints . Add ClutchPoints as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
The NBA season is creeping up on the calendar, and while most fans cannot wait for the action to start, others are wondering when their front office will get with the times. It's been a long offseason and yet the New Orleans Pelicans have shown little urgency in improving the roster through trades or a major free agency move. However, there is still plenty of time to fill one big hole in a starting lineup built around Zion Williamson using Jordan Poole 's contract as a ballast. The Brooklyn Nets , Charlotte Hornets , and Sacramento Kings should be the first calls.
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Calling the core soft in exit interviews to stoke up some professional pride, hoping for better injury luck, and chasing the last NBA Play-In Tournament spot is not going to fill the Smoothie King Center this season. Still, all it would take to sell a few extra is a move that gives the city a refreshed product around Williamson, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Derik Queen, and Jeremiah Fears.
Michael Porter Jr. is the most obvious home run move but the Nets are fielding offers from multiple teams. They can play hardball and wait that market out until the trade deadline just to see how the standings look. Someone will get desperate. Other organizations might be more inclined to make a deal before training camp. There is usually a shock-to-the-system swap in September, and no reason why the Pelicans cannot be in that number .
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Hassling the Hornets
A franchise willing to trade its former All-Star point guard for a package centered on future assets has already announced that sentimentality is not running the front office. Joe Dumars should make the Hornets define exactly how deep their reset goes. The LaMelo Ball move means every veteran on the roster deserves at least one phone call, including Naz Reid .
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Charlotte sent Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota for Reid, an unprotected 2033 first-round pick, three first-round swaps, and three second-round selections. It was the kind of deal that forces a franchise to answer uncomfortable questions eventually. The Pelicans need to ask what kind of rebuild is happening and if Grant Williams is available as well.
Perhaps the Hornets view Reid as part of the next competitive squad alongside Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel and the rest of the young core. If so, the conversation ends quickly. However, if their front office sees the Ball deal as the start of a multi-year reset, this Sixth Man of the Year-worthy version of 'Nasty Naz' is exactly the kind of player the Pelicans should try to buy before there is a For Sale sign up in January.
The salary matching is absurdly clean. Reid and Williams combine for about $37.54 million this season. Poole and Missi combine for roughly $37.56 million. It's a difference of $20,000. New Orleans might as well get two bigs for the price of one pricey All-Star…right? Either way, they would get some market information that will help in the Zion and Saddiq Bey contract extension negotiations.
Robbing the Kings
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Domantas Sabonis averaged 15.8 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists last season. He remains one of the NBA's best rebounders and one of its most creative passers from the paint. Put him at the elbow with Murphy III cutting, Fears flying around screens, Jones doing the intangible things, and Williamson attacking a rotating defense. Good luck deciding where the help comes from in the fourth quarter.
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The problem is that $48.6 million salary cap hit next season . Every team has balked at the multiple first-rounders asking price so far. Getting a first-rounder and a conditional swap along with Poole, Hawkins, and Missi is a more than fair even-money trade. That is already a substantial haul for a 30-year-old center carrying almost $94 million across the next two seasons. Clearing that huge financial obligation and adding cheap prospects is the real goal.
Defense and the cap hit are also why anyone shopping at the Sabonis level will likely look elsewhere first. The Pelicans have great intel on an All-Star who might be looking for a change of scenery as well. Desmond Bane's arrival did little to lift the championship ceiling around Disney World after all.
Fooling the Magic
There is no credible public indication that the Orlando Magic are shopping Paolo Banchero . First, let's start there. Now make the call from the 504 anyway. Playing the bait-and-switch could still net the Pelicans a serviceable big man.
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Sure, the Magic fired Jamahl Mosley after blowing a 3-1 first-round series lead to the Detroit Pistons. Yes, players like Paolo, who averaged 22.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists last season, are rarely available. Well, until suddenly they aren't. Then the NBA world gets shocked. Just ask Damian Lillard and Luka Doncic.
When a young All-NBA talent does become available publicly, it's for red-flag reasons. Just ask the Ja Morant, Trae Young, and Zion Williamson markets. Now, find a middle ground for a Magic team that has hit a top-six wall in the Eastern Conference.
Poole and Hawkins alone make approximately $41.07 million. Banchero's new extension starts at roughly $41.24 million this season, meaning the expensive portion of the deal is in place. Adding in Missi and multiple first-round picks to add actual basketball value could get the Magic's attention.
Would it be enough? Probably not unless something changes dramatically in Orlando. That is fine. It would be foolish not to ask for a price, though, just out of curiosity. Mosley and Banchero worked well together before. Perhaps they could build on that success in the Crescent City.
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If the Magic's answer on Banchero is an immediate no, which should be expected, Dumars should stay on the phone. Ask about Wendell Carter Jr. and Goga Bitadze. They currently have considerable frontcourt depth, while their payroll sits near the first-apron line.
Skinning the Bucks
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Myles Turner and Kyle Kuzma are sitting on a Bucks roster that looks drastically different after Milwaukee traded Giannis Antetokounmpo. Not only could both help a fringe top-six team immediately, but the Pelicans could also nab the duo in a package deal.
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The money is close. Poole ($34 million), Hawkins ($7 million), and Missi ($3.5 million) combine for roughly $44.6 million. Turner and Kuzma combine for a little more than $47 million. Draft compensation, the inclusion of Missi, and a bidding war with the Atlanta Hawks are the most obvious obstacles. However, winding up with either Turner or Kuzma while shedding Poole's salary would be considered a win.
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Turner is a legitimate starting center who can defend the rim and provide some spacing. Kuzma gives Mosley another experienced forward who can rebound, run, and survive against bigger lineups. The Bucks regain control of their future draft pick and possibly can flip Poole or Hawkins at the deadline. If not, Hawkins and Poole's money comes off the books; Missi would likely stick around for the season as a minutes-eating prospect screening for Tyler Herro.
Given how New Orleans has treated future draft picks, Missi is where the call seemingly gets uncomfortable. The Pelicans reportedly rejected multiple attempts from the New York Knicks to acquire Missi this summer and have treated the young center as a meaningful part of the future. Moving him now would be a reversal. Would the possibility of adding Turner be worth reconsidering that decision?
Only one way to find out for the Pelicans. It's time to run through the Rolodex one more time before training camp. Now that LeBron James has made a decision, the dynamics have changed for several teams. Dumars just needs one to make a deal.
