New Orleans Pelicans

It is very weird to see a Stan Van Gundy coached team rank 28th in the league in defensive efficiency, but the Pelicans have really struggled on that end of the court this year. They are giving up the 25th most points to opponents this season and while they are a Top-10 offensive team in the league with Zion Williamson leading the charge, this team needs to get better defensively if they are to make the playoffs in a crowded Western Conference. 

Adding PJ Tucker to this frontcourt makes a lot of sense for the Pelicans, especially since they have virtually no depth behind Zion Williamson. When Williamson is out of the game, Brandon Ingram normally plays the small-forward position, giving the Pelicans a very vulnerable and smaller lineup on the defensive end of the court. 

Having PJ Tucker on this roster gives New Orleans a reliable frontcourt player behind Zion Williamson in the rotation and someone who can really be an anchor for this team defensively. Brandon Ingram has the length to be a solid defensive player and Zion can guard virtually anybody because of his explosiveness and length, so adding Tucker to be the defensive leader of this team could make a ton of sense. 

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He is not going to make the Pelicans a top-10 defensive team instantly, but he can gradually start to improve them on that end of the court and sooner than later, this team could ultimately become a really solid two-way team. Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe are both solid backcourt defenders and what it comes down to for this team is that they have been lazy. 

They are much better than being the 28th best defensive team in the league and with the addition of PJ Tucker, they could finally prove this. He is a great backup for the Pelicans to add and at a small asking price, they could potentially even get more from the Rockets if they were to include a player like JJ Redick in return.