With the disastrous start to the season and Zion's tumultuous tenure as a Pelican, it may be time for New Orleans to look to the future. Their front office is rightfully getting grilled for their unthinkable decision to trade their own first-round pick in the 2026 draft (not to mention trading the Pacers pick back to them during the finals). Those picks could both end up being top 5 in this year's draft, depending on how the lottery balls bounce. Though trading Zion certainly doesn't help their ability to win games this year, they're not winning games with him anyway.

In this trade, Charlotte sends a pick-heavy package to bring Zion back to North Carolina and pair him with LaMelo Ball. He also joins Kon Knueppel and Sion James to add to the Duke core growing in Charlotte.

Despite his flaws, Zion is still an absolute force when he plays, and he would figure to be must-see TV next to LaMelo Ball. The way I see it, New Orleans needs to either get proven young players in this deal (Miller, Knueppel, etc.) or a haul of picks. This deal structure is pick-heavy but allows Charlotte to still maintain a good foundation of draft assets moving forward, as well as a roster that makes sense next to Lamelo and Zion.

Post Roster Trade:

Charlotte

C Ryan Kalkbrenner | Moussa Diabate

PF Zion Williamson | Grant Williams

SF Brandon Miller | Liam McNeely | Pat Connaughton

SG Kon Knueppel | Collin Sexton

PG LaMelo Ball | Sion James | Tre Mann

New Orleans

C Kevon Looney | Derek Queen

PF Miles Bridges | Saddiq Bey

SF Trey Murphy III | Jordan Hawkins

SG Herb Jones | Jordan Poole

PG Jeremiah Fears | Jose Alvarado | D. Murray

If I were New Orleans, I would also look to potentially offload Murphy, Bridges, and Poole in subsequent deals with the hopes of building around Fears and Queen with a stack of draft assets moving forward.