Pelicans are the first under 500 team in nba history to belive their core is great. Not a single player change in this entire roster.
I really belive they should just sell out and capitalize in getting as many picks as they can in the near future.
Trade 1 - Hawks send Risacher, Kispert, 2 firsts and 4 seconds for Trey Murphy. Wanted to send him to a different team. I see everybody sending Trey to Detroit, Boston or Indiana, so i decided to go a little different. The asking price is 3 firsts. Here Atlanta send former first overall pick and picks. Close enough imo. The fit in Atlanta's squad is pretty clear and they should be fighting for court advantage with this squad
NAW / Dyson / Murphy / JJ / Okongwu
Flemings / CJ / Kuminga? / Newell / Ejifor
Trade 2 - The Bulls get two rotational players for a lottery protected first (that turns into 2 seconds if don't convey) and 2 seconds. They probably ain't even worth that much, so i'm being very generous to the Pels here, but the Bulls get a little better and a little closer to playoff basketball.
Giddey / Powell / Matas / Caleb / Claxton
Jones / Swain / Bey / Essengue / Missi
Trade 3 - get a young player in Jarace Walker and a 2027 first for Herb Jones. I don't think they are getting the two firsts they want, but here they at least get a former lottery pick to make up for it.
Hali / Nembhard / Nesmith / Siakam / Zubac
Mcconnell / Oubre / Herb / Toppin / Huff
Trade 4 - Hear me out about this one.
Fox contract is negative and 4 more years. Zion can't stay healthy, i know, but he is still better than fox and fits the SA better than him imo. Getting Dejounte back is huge aswell. Better yet, both contract end in two years. The same year Castle gets extended, so they won't need to be worried about money the same way they should be with Fox money in the books for the next 4 years. Getting the best bench in the league helps Pelicans get rid of Zion so they can finally get a fresh start, save 15 million right now and get two future firsts. Fox is not great, but he can really bring some joy to a tanking team, and also keep them out of the relegation zone.
Harper / Castle / Vassell / Zion / Wemby
Dejounte / Keldon / Champagnie / Harris / Reed (Quaintance)
Pelicans:
They basically trade their entire squad for a few players, 6 firsts and 6 seconds, but imo it's important for them to restart and try again with a new core. Their current one is not going anywhere, and here the only objective will be to avoid the relegation zone for the next two seasons before starting to compete again.
Fox / Fears / Risacher / Queen / Kornet
Poole / Kispert / Sheppard / Walker / Deandre Jordan???