The league may see more trades than ever before, which is why we ranked the New Orleans Pelicans roster from least to most tradeable.
With news that the salary cap is likely to drop significantly, the New Orleans Pelicans may look for creative ways to plug holes rather than try and fill them in free agency.
It could cause teams to look for internal fixes for its problems, especially the Pelicans, who have a number of young players who they could thrust into more prominent roles.
It also may cause teams to hold onto their own restricted free agents, as they are known commodities, and could force teams into looking for trades, especially with a limited number of high profile unrestricted free agents available.
The New Orleans Pelicans will definitely get some calls, as they have a number of players that teams would have interest in if they were made available in a trade.
But what makes a player tradeable?
It is a combination of three things:
- Skill: Obviously better players get more attention
- Salary: Would this player’s salary be easy to move?
- Age and Years: How old is the player? How much team control is left on their contract?
For example, someone like Russell Westbrook might score high on number one, but how many teams want to pay the man over $46 million when he is 34-years-old? The answer is none.
As good as Westbrook is, he is far less tradeable than Josh Hart, whose production and salary make him one of the more valuable players in the league.
Several of these players will not be New Orleans Pelicans next season, but for the sake of argument we took a look at the entire roster.
Here are the New Orleans Pelicans ranked from least to most tradeable.