New Orleans Pelicans: A Trade with the Warriors to Land Wiseman
The New Orleans Pelicans should trade up with Warriors to land Wiseman
Why the Pelicans would do it
The Pelicans need to get bigger, more athletic and find some rim protection this offseason. They got pushed around in the bubble and it was clear that they needed some size.
A great way to do this would be to swap out Holiday for Wiggins and #2 and then use that pick to take James Wiseman.
Wiseman is a 7-foot-1 center who can block shots, run the floor and has flashed some shooting ability. He’ll rebound, protect the paint and won’t need the ball much on offense.
He sounds like the perfect guy to add to Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Wiseman gives the Pelicans another young piece to build around, a true big who fits into the modern game.
He might not make them better next year, but a Big Four of Zion, BI, Lonzo Ball and Wiseman would be the best young core in the league by far.
Wiggins almost seems like a throw-in here, and some people have soured on him, but he was having an excellent year, averaging over 20 points and five rebounds a game. He’s not a great 3-point shooter, but he has some size, can defend multiple positions and should get better.
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He’s also only 25-years-old, so fits well with the Pelicans for the next several years.
A starting lineup of Lonzo Ball, Andrew Wiggins, Brandon Ingram, Zion Williamson and James Wiseman would be long, athletic and very young. They’d be able to run a lot of teams out of the gym, would be much better at protecting the rim and would have a lot more size than they do now.
The Pelicans could go from an undersized team to one that is running out a 6-foot-7 shooting guard in Wiggins, or if they brought him off the bench, the 6-foot-5 Josh Hart.
This trade makes a lot of sense for both teams, though it’s possible the Pelicans would have to throw-in another pick or player to get the Warriors to move.
The Pelicans don’t need a huge shake up, but if they can get bigger, more athletic and build a young Super Team, they should.
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