How Pelicans can salvage former champion's value after Bennedict Mathurin signing

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How Pelicans can salvage former champion's value after Bennedict Mathurin signing

Chris Dodson, ClutchPoints

Wed, Aug 26, 2026 ·

6 min read

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After months of waiting, Big Easy basketball fans have some free agency news that might help fill Smoothie King Center seats. With apologies to DeAndre Jordan, the New Orleans Pelicans made their first significant signing of the 2026 offseason, agreeing to a two-year, $16 million deal with high-scoring wing Bennedict Mathurin . On the surface, it makes Jordan Poole all but expendable going into training camp. EVP Joe Dumars and head coach Jamahl Mosley need to instead focus on churning up some kind of trade value for the former champion before the holidays.

Poole is entering the final season of an approximately $34 million contract. That expiring money will become increasingly useful as the trade deadline approaches, but salary relief alone will not force opposing executives to surrender anything meaningful. Dumars needs the rest of the NBA to see a player worth putting on the floor once the paperwork is complete. The trade-and-buyout options will be very limited this season. Even though the Pelicans are trying to change the toughness narrative , Mosley needs to show some early flexibility with the rotations.

The goal is not to hide Poole defensively, but to put him in lineups that mask weaknesses while amplifying what he does best. Poole has shown he can produce at a high level with the ball (career-high 20.4 points, 4.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds in his final Wizards season) and as a movement shooter and finisher (Golden State Warriors pre-Draymond Green punch). Being able to operate in both roles should expand the market as the season unfolds.

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Pelicans playing odds

Poole's trade market value has tanked lower than a meme coin since leaving the Warriors. Showing a renewed sense of focus and purpose in training camp alone could alleviate some of the 'seriousness' concerns. No contender is going to take a chance on someone not committed to the cause, and, like the negative narratives, that's not a switch Poole can easily flip. Show up to camp ready to compete for minutes against Mathurin, Herb Jones, Jeremiah Fears, and Saddiq Bey. Word will get out.

Can the Pelicans trust Poole to be the scoring punch with defensive anchors Herb Jones, Saddiq Bey, Yves Missi, and a bulked-up Trey Murphy III? Will the Derik Queen and Point Zion Williamson experiment work with Poole cutting off the ball? In the first example, Poole must be willing to pass while acting as a featured scorer. In the second, Poole must be willing to continue moving even when someone else is getting the buckets.

Poole's first season in New Orleans could hardly have done more damage to his market. He was limited to 39 games and eight starts, averaging 13.4 points and 3.1 assists while shooting 37.2% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range. Those numbers were a dramatic step backward and helped lead to this somewhat stagnated career situation. If it all clicks under a defensive-minded Mosley, the Pelicans will be able to rehabilitate Poole's value without actually depending on him in 2027.

Jordan Poole's best punch

A unit featuring Poole, Herb Jones, Trey Murphy III, Saddiq Bey and Yves Missi gives Mosley length at four positions while allowing Poole to initiate offense against second units. Jones can take the opposing team's best perimeter threat. Murphy provides size and shooting. Bey gives the group another physical wing. Missi supplies pick-and-roll screening and a rim presence.

Besides Jones, Poole's other important partner should be Dejounte Murray. The Pelicans will have plenty of incentive to stagger Murray's minutes with Jeremiah Fears and Bennedict Mathurin . Doing so would also allow Mosley to occasionally use Poole without forcing him to organize every possession. Murray can initiate the offense and defend the more dangerous opposing guard. Poole can run secondary pick-and-rolls, attack scrambled defenses, and hunt three-pointers.

Given a chance to show a change in approach and form, a contender might become interested in Poole as a secondary creator capable of swinging a playoff game. A few lottery-bound teams might need to avoid the relegation zone as well. That matters this season and the Pelicans need to take full advantage.

Teams shopping near the deadline will not evaluate Poole based solely on whether he can produce 20 points every night next to Zion Williamson. They will ask whether they can put him beside an established star, survive defensively, and steal eight minutes of a crucial game.

Mosley needs to provide an answer. The new depth helps because no one will be asked or allowed to shoot their way out of a bad night. Mathurin's presence makes the process easier because New Orleans no longer has to force Poole into every scoring situation. The Pelicans have enough firepower that Poole's minutes can become more intentional, and intentional minutes may produce better numbers than the inconsistent reserve role he endured last season.

Gauging good value

If Poole gets back into the neighborhood of 13-16 points per game while shooting 37% or better from beyond the arc, the trade value conversation changes. Then Poole stops looking like an expensive dead-end reclamation project and starts looking like an expiring contract attached to a legitimate bench weapon. There is a rental market for that player, and Joe Dumars will go from crickets to hearing a few calls.

The objective should not necessarily be extracting a first-round pick for Poole in a vacuum. Turning his contract from something the Pelicans would have to pay to move or let expire for nothing into something another team actually wants included in a deal would already represent a significant recovery. Essentially, Dumars needs a team to believe Poole can help win a few games while simultaneously providing useful salary mechanics in a larger transaction.

The Pelicans are unlikely to convince anybody that the former NBA champion should once again be viewed as a centerpiece. Thankfully, they only have to remind the league that Jordan Poole can still ruin someone's night in six minutes. Do that often enough against lottery-bound teams early in the season, and his $34 million expiring contract could become an actual trade chip.

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