The Houston Rockets have been one of the worst teams when it comes to scoring inside the restricted area and the paint and to fix that they look to bring in Zion Williamson; who is one of, if not THE, best inside scorers in the NBA. For the Pelicans, they get a valuable & great perimeter defenders in the veteran pair of Dillon Brooks and Jae'sean Tate as well as Jabari Smith Jr who despite having less of an impact for the high-flying Rockets, still has great upside and at worst can be a nice complimentary piece in a larger trade.
The Rockets also are in need of another ball handler as the heavily questioned Jalen Green is joint top in usage rate% with Alphren Sengun (if you discount Cam Whitmore who has only played 79 minutes this season coming out to an average of 9.9 MPG), yet is also top in tov% for the Rocket's main guys (in this case I've disqualified Adams and Tate). This lack of care over the ball wouldn't be an issue if he was a key part of the Rocket's playmaking, for example Sengun has basically the same tov% and usage rate but is contributing more assists than any other Rocket's player other than Fred VanVleet (a damn PG). Adding Zion allows Green to find himself as a secondary ball handler where he can focus on finishing plays rather that starting and maintaining them, which he will thrive in. Zion last season led the Pelicans in Usage rate and was second behind BI when it came to contributing to team assists.
For the Pelicans they wouldn't get what a team should get for a guy who averaged 23/6/5 on 61% true shooting yet when you factor in his lack of motor, his injuries and the Pelicans seemingly (yet slowly) moving off from the Zion timeline, I don't know if the market is infact that big for him. If they were to trade Zion at all, it would only make sense for him to switch to a winning team still lacking a for sure near-future and with the pieces Houston have the Pelicans would walk away from this hypothetical relatively happy.
Jabari Smith Jr hasn't impacted Houston's winning all that much, having a PIE of 9.9 (Same impact as Jaime or Kyle Filipowski from Utah) and is also playing the least amount of MPG this season at just over 29 minutes. Ultimately his value all comes from what he can be and the fact what he has been producing and doing at decent efficiency and good defence. Dillon Brooks would be a nice pickup for NOLA because they'll add onto already one of the best defensive cores in the league alongside adding a player who gives them line-up versatility and a tradeable contract. Jae'sean Tate is an expiring contract but could confidently play stater minutes with the injuries the Pels have experienced already.
In terms of the picks, Houston won't be wanting to send out more than 2 FRPs yet I could potentially see it happening. This is because Houston still haven't fully committed to their core and still have question marks over them. That's why in this case I have them sending out an Unprotected 2025 FRP (owned by themselves) and another Houston pick, this one in 2027. This one will be Top 10 protected as their only guaranteed contracts by then will be Sengun, Jalen Green and Zion.
Overall this would be a great fit for Houston and would absolutely make them one of the best teams in the NBA if Zion stays semi-healthy and they'd still have a very deep roster with Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore still deserving of starting spots along with vets Jock Langdale and Steven Adams being amongst the roster. If the Pels were actively selling Zion, I don't see them getting anything close or better than this package.
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