Every NBA team can look back on the past and wonder what might have happened if things had gone differently. This includes the New Orleans Pelicans, who have some big what-ifs of their own.
The New Orleans Pelicans have a lot of what-ifs, and so does the rest of the NBA.
What if Portland had drafted Michael Jordan? What if the Pistons had just taken Carmelo Anthony instead of Darko Milicic?
What if the Hornets had kept Kobe Bryant?
There are plenty of what-ifs around the league, especially for the New Orleans Pelicans, whose recent history could have gone very differently.
The Pelicans have been involved in some of the biggest trades of the last decade, missed opportunities to build a dynasty and flopped on huge trade that eventually worked out for them.
Few teams have had their destiny reworked as many times as the New Orleans Pelicans, who several times have looked to be on the verge of something big only to go a different route.
The New Orleans Pelicans have had three big eras since moving to New Orleans: The Chris Paul era, the Anthony Davis era and now the Zion Williamson era.
They botched the first one, and the jury is still out on the next two, as the Davis trade built the current roster and there hasn’t been enough time to judge the overall impact of the trade.
But enough time has passed to judge some other events in the New Orleans Pelicans’ past and wonder what might have happened if things had gone a different way.
The Pelicans have chosen some interesting paths that have led to the current team which is one of the most exciting and talented in the NBA.
Let’s take a look at what could have been with the three biggest what-ifs in team history.
What if the New Orleans Pelicans Had Traded Chris Paul to the Lakers?
At the time of the Paul trade, the New Orleans Pelicans were still the Hornets and they were owned by the NBA.
This ended up being one of the black marks against David Stern’s career as commissioner, as his decision to essentially take over the Hornets caused a lot of controversy around the league.
With an unhappy superstar point guard and no owner, Stern decided the best course of action was to trade Paul, purportedly for the “best deal” available.
Paul was traded to the Clippers for Eric Gordon, center Chris Kaman, forward Al-Farouq Aminu and Minnesota’s unprotected 2012 first-round pick, which turned out to be Austin Rivers.
Let’s face it, the Pelicans would get more for Paul now at age 35 then they did then, when he was 26 and in the prime of his career.
The New Orleans Pelicans (Hornets) got fleeced by the league, especially considering Stern essentially blocked a trade that would have brought back a better package from the Lakers.
The Lakers deal would have given the Hornets Lamar Odom, Luis Scola, Kevin Martin, Goran Dragic, and a first-round draft choice, which is a better haul than they got from the Clippers.
Only Austin Rivers remains from the four players the Pelicans got for Paul, while Dragic is still an effective point guard for the Miami Heat.
Not only would the Clippers been denied the “Lob City” era, but the Lakers would have paired Kobe with one of the best point guards in the NBA, a duo that almost certainly would have brought some additional hardware to the Lakers.
The Paul era was a flop in New Orleans and this trade was the gravy. Had they had an ownership group in place Paul may have wanted to stay, but even if not, they almost certainly could have gotten a better deal than the one Stern took.
What if the New Orleans Pelicans Drafted Giannis in 2013?
There are 14 other teams in the NBA who have the same what-if, as Giannis Antetokounmpo is already the MVP of the league and about to win another one.
The New Orleans Pelicans took Nerlens Noel with the 6th pick of that draft and then traded him to the 76ers for Jrue Holiday.
This all ended up working out for the Pelicans, but it’s hard not to imagine what a team with Davis and Antetokounmpo would have looked like.
If the Pelicans had taken Giannis in that draft it could have had ripple effects that would have touched most of the league.
Obviously the Bucks would not be the best team in basketball and the Pelicans likely would not have Holiday.
But what they would have had is two of the best, most versatile and unique players in the NBA on one team.
Giannis and The Brow would have been an unstoppable pairing on both ends of the floor. Think of the defensive versatility of two guys who can guard nearly any other player in the league.
The Pelicans could have played small-ball with Davis at center and Giannis at the four, giving them one of the best frontcourts of all-time.
Giannis might have even convinced Davis to stay in New Orleans, to build a dynasty together, which means the Pelicans wouldn’t have made the trade to the Lakers and probably wouldn’t be bad enough to draft Zion.
Would you trade the New Orleans Pelicans current roster for one with The Brow and The Greek Freak? It’s a tough call and an interesting what-if that changed the course of several franchises.
What if the New Orleans Pelicans Hadn’t Traded for Boogie?
It’s easy to look back on the trade for DeMarcus Cousins now and say how bad it was for the Pelicans, but at the time people thought they were the ones who had gotten the steal.
The Pelicans traded Buddy Hield, Langston Galloway, Tyreke Evans and its 2017 first and second round picks for Cousins and at the time it looked like a good trade.
After all, they were only giving up an unproven young guy in Hield, a one-dimensional scorer in Evans, role player Galloway and a pick that ended up being 10th in the 2017 draft.
In exchange they were getting the most talented big man in the league and finally had another superstar to pair with Davis.
The move was a calculated risk, as the New Orleans Pelicans were giving this all up for what amounted to a rental and they had no guarantees that Cousins would re-sign in the offseason.
It turns out they didn’t need them, as Cousins suffered a season-ending injury that is now looking like it is going to end his career.
It’s hard not to look back and wonder what might have happened if the Pelicans had never made that trade.
Would Hield be thriving for the Pelicans? Who would they have taken with that pick in 2017? Would the combination of Heild and someone like Jason Collins be enough to make the Pelicans a contender? Would Davis have stayed?
Would they have been bad enough to get a chance to draft Zion?
Ultimately this trade worked out for the Pelicans because it led to the team they have now, but it looked really bad at the time and probably cost Dell Demps his job.
Every team has a checkered history, but few teams have so many questions around the ultimate fates of their superstars as the New Orleans Pelicans.
Let’s hope they make the right calls during the Zion-era so we aren’t writing these articles years from now wondering what might have been.
Thanks for reading and stay safe out there!