Does this trade make sense for New Orleans Pelicans?
The New Orleans Pelicans have made their intentions of contending for a playoff spot clear this offseason, as they brought in Jonas Valanciunas and Devonte’ Graham, but this is also an organization that has a lot of faith in their player development program. They have some trusted veterans on their roster, but overall, the Pelicans are still a very young and inexperienced team.
Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram are two All-Star talents they are going to be building with for the foreseeable future, but these guys are only 21 and 24-years-old respectively. Kevin Knox himself is only 22-years-old, so he could actually fit in with what the Pelicans are trying to build youth-wise.
In the final year of his contract and coming off a season in which he shot 39.3% from three-point range on 89 total attempts, maybe there is a spot in this league on the Pelicans roster for Kevin Knox.
After Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart, there are minutes up for grabs on the wing in New Orleans this season and there is no guarantee that Naji Marshall or rookies Trey Murphy III and Herbert Jones have solidified spots in this team’s rotations.
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Bringing in Kevin Knox not only creates a competition-like atmosphere for the Pelicans to get the most from their young talents on the wing, but they could also find something that many scouts saw in Knox when he was coming out of Kentucky in 2018.
New Orleans did rank 26th in three-point shooting percentage last season and 27th in the league in made threes per game, so three-point shooting is definitely an area they need to improve in. Bringing in Kevin Knox is a low-risk, possible high-reward move for the Pelicans, and for the cost of a second-round pick in 2022, they can get out of paying Garrett Temple long-term.
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While he may not currently present much of an upside, Kevin Knox could wind up being a key acquisition for the New Orleans Pelicans given his three-point shooting abilities.
