New Orleans Pelicans: Best and Worst Transactions of the Last 3 Years
New Orleans Pelicans: Best and Worst Transactions of 2017-18
The bulk of 2017-18 was spent trying to recover from the things they’d done wrong the year before.
The New Orleans Pelicans were desperately trying to make the playoffs and appease Davis, though there were already signs that he wasn’t long for The Big Easy.
This led to a couple of key signings and trades, but also some desperation moves that didn’t work out for the Pelicans.
Best Moves
July 6th, 2017
The New Orleans Pelicans inked Jrue Holiday to an extension, which was a solid move at the time that seems even more so now.
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The Pelicans were trying to appease Davis by showing him they’d do what it took to keep stars in New Orleans.
It obviously wasn’t enough to please Davis, but Holiday has emerged as a team leader and face of the franchise. He is a fan favorite, one of the best two-way players in the league and is on a contract reasonable enough to move if the Pelicans need to clear space.
It was a good signing then and helped the future as well.
February 1, 2018
In an effort to “win now” the New Orleans Pelicans traded Tony Allen, Jameer Nelson, Omer Asik and a 1st round pick for Nikola Mirotic.
Mirotic seemed to be the exact type of stretch-four that would fit with Davis and it briefly worked out for the New Orleans Pelicans. Mirotic had some big games for the Pels, including a 30-point game in the playoff sweep of the Trail Blazers.
Mirotic was only on the New Orleans Pelicans for a short time but was a big part of the Pelicans’ first playoff series win since the 2007 season.
Mirotic didn’t work out in the end, but the Pelicans gave up little to get him.
Worst Moves
October 28, 2017
On this date the New Orleans Pelicans inexplicably signed Josh Smith, a guy who would show up on several teams’ lists of worst moves (we’re looking at you Pistons).
It’s probably a good idea to avoid signing guys who other teams are paying NOT TO PLAY for them. Smith only recently stopped getting a paycheck from Detroit, who paid him $5 million a year to stay away from the facilities.
Luckily Smith wasn’t long for New Orleans, as they cut him just over a month later. So much for the Josh Smith Era.