The New Orleans Pelicans have not made the NBA playoffs for three consecutive seasons now, which does not seem like a long time, but a lot has happened within this organization since the last time they were a threat in the Western Conference.
Not only had Anthony Davis been traded to the Lakers, but Jrue Holiday was traded to the Bucks last season and more recently, the Pelicans moved on from former second overall pick Lonzo Ball, which is looking like a terrible move right now.
This Pelicans organization just has no stability within it, which could ultimately force Brandon Ingram and/or Zion Williamson to leave sooner than expected. At 4-16, New Orleans is one of the worst teams in the league and things do not seem to be trending in the right direction for them.
There is still no timetable for Zion Williamson’s potential return to the court after having foot surgery in the offseason and with this team’s overall lack of talent compared to other franchises in the Western Conference, it is hard to imagine that Willie Green’s squad will be able to miraculously turn things around this season.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: This Mavericks-Pelicans Trade Features An Intriguing Guard
This is not to say though that David Griffin and this front-office will not look for ways to improve their roster.
New Orleans has never really been big players at the trade deadline, but their slow start could force management to go out and find ways to flip their roster around.
Being just $2.5M over the salary cap, the New Orleans Pelicans have plenty of room to add more players to their roster, especially since Tomas Satorasnky ($10M) and Jaxson Hayes ($5.3M) could be utilized as “trade bait” for teams across the league.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: This Mavericks-Pelicans Trade Features An Intriguing Guard
With a young roster looking to gain more experience, the Pelicans will likely miss the playoffs this season and end up with another lottery pick, but we should not count out any potential trades this season either.
Do the Pelicans have the ability to make some big trades ahead of this season’s trade deadline? Let’s take a look at three players New Orleans could target, as proposed by Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley, and evaluate whether or not the Pelicans should “pass or pursue” said trade targets.
