New Orleans Pelicans: Which Players to Trade, Which to Keep

Players the New Orleans Pelicans Should Re-Sign

Currently, guards Frank Jackson and Josh Gray, wings E’Twaun Moore, Brandon Ingram, Zylan Cheatham, Sindarius Thornwell and Kenrich Williams and bigs Derrick Favors and Jahlil Okafor are scheduled to be free agents. That’s… a lot.

If Miller is released and all cap holds of free agents are renounced, New Orleans can reach upwards of $35 million in cap space. However, looking over the free agents that the Pelicans will have on their hands, only one stands out as a must-keep, and that’s Ingram.

All of that cap space is going to be exhausted when giving Ingram a max deal, meaning that New Orleans will have to hand out league minimums and exceptions if it wants to retain any of the other incumbent free agents.

Moore and Okafor are most likely gone, as Moore doesn’t seem to fit with where the Pelicans are going and Okafor probably has priced himself out of a veteran minimum, and the exceptions could be best used elsewhere.

Williams’ play declined this season and he couldn’t stay healthy, and Gray doesn’t fit the timeline of a two-way contract player and probably wouldn’t make the 15-man roster.

Favors was a great teammate this season for the Pelicans, and helped keep them in the playoff run until late in the season. However, he dealt with injuries, would take up an exception and played poorly when the team needed him the most.

While Favors was fantastic in parts and would be hard to let go, ultimately it would be the right decision and the team could get better players for cheaper.

As for the rest of the free agents, Jackson, Cheatham and Thornwell, Jackson should be re-signed for his play in the bubble and potential to develop into a nice backup point guard option. Cheatham has extreme athleticism that makes him a no-brainer to return on a two-way deal and Thornwell deserves another look on either a two-way deal or training camp contract.

In this scenario, after re-signing some free agents, the Pelicans would have six standard open roster spots, with four draft picks and exceptions to add much more talent.

The New Orleans Pelicans have a lot of tough decisions to make, but they have a few clear keepers and a few players who have to go.