The Pelicans have been inundated with injuries all season long and even if this team was healthy, I still don't see them doing that well in this west. There are just too many holes on the roster. New Orleans has an opportunity to fix a lot of those holes this trade deadline with this deal.
Nets
Brooklyn obviously does this purely for the draft assets. That Bucks pick in particular could turn out to be absolutely amazing. If Giannis does want out of Milwaukee, could be a big asset to send to the Bucks in return. While Claxton is great, and still young, the Nets won't be competitive until he is past his prime. It seems to me that they will probably look to capitalize on his value and trade him away sooner rather than later. This is made easier by Day'Ron Sharpe breaking out last year. The Nets hope to get Flagg next year and go from there with a complete reset of guys around him. They can also trade CJ to a team like Orlando for another pick or a young guy if they want, or just hold him for a year and use him as an expiring contract next trade deadline.
Lineup
PG: Dennis Schroder / Ben Simmons / Jalen Wilson
SG: CJ McCollum / D'Angelo Russell / Jalen Hood-Schifino
SF: Cam Thomas / Ziaire Williams
PF: Cameron Johnson / Dorian Finney-Smith
C: Day'Ron Sharpe / Noah Clowney
Lakers
Los Angeles gets a legit star to take the load off LeBron and AD. BI has played amazingly this year and he has always thrived with great distributors like Lonzo around him. Who better than the best passer of all time to give BI his best chance to be a championship-level contributor. He can either be a primary on-ball option when LeBron is off, or when playing a two man game with AD, OR, he can be an off-ball shooter and secondary ball handler when all three are on the court together. Ingram's 3PAs are already up to career level this year and that is with Brandon Boston Jr. being his second best player most of the time. Ingram also signs a 3/125M extension here to solidify him in LA until at least the end of LeBron's career, after which BI & AD can become the duo of the future for the team. There are clearly still some holes on the roster, particularly in the backcourt, but with BI & LeBron being your main ball handlers and creators, it's not as bad as it looks. If they did want to get a guy like Dennis Schroder from this deal they could do a Vincent for Schroder swap with maybe a pick swap and get a guy who has been balling out this year.
(Bonus of the trade is getting rid of terrorist D'lo)
Lineup:
PG: Gabe Vincent / Shake Milton
SG: Austin Reaves / Max Christie
SF: Brandon Ingram / Dalton Knecht
PF: LeBron James / Jarred Vanderbilt
C: Anthony Davis / Jaxson Hayes
Pelicans
New Orleans gets the best center possible for their system (apart from like, Chet I guess lol). Claxton is an excellent rim protector and can defend most perimeter players on top of that. He is young, can grow with the core, and is on a not-horrific contract. He won't need to do much on offence apart from run, catch lobs, and dunk, which he will be able to do amazingly.
The departure of BI lets Herb and TM3 become the two wings and still allows for an effective small ball lineup in spurts.
Rui becomes the glue guy off the bench who can shoot threes at a high enough clip and play some defense as well. Bojan is basically just here as an expiring contract who will be off the books when Trey Murphy's extension kicks in next year. Gives New Orleans a TON of financial flexibility going forward, especially with Claxton, Trey, Herb, and Murray all being an amazing team-friendly deals and with 2-ways, rookies, and cheap guys being most of the remaining rotation.
Even if the season is too far gone come the deadline or December 15 or whatever for the team to be good this season, this trade would - in my view - give New Orleans a legit contender for the first time since 2008, and just the second time ever.
Lineup:
PG: Dejounte Murray / Jose Alvarado / Antonio Reeves
SG: Herb Jones / Jordan Hawkins (6M) / Brandon Boston Jr.
SF: Trey Murphy III / Javonte Green / Bojan Bogdanovic
PF: Zion Williamson / Rui Hachimura / Daniel Theis
C: Nic Claxton / Yves Missi / Karlo Matkovic