Pelica Debrief
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New Orleans Pelicans: Ranking the top 5 hypothetical NBA Draft trades

By Aaron Kellerstrass

OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 28: Jrue Holiday #11 of the New Orleans Pelicans is guarded by Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - APRIL 28: Jrue Holiday #11 of the New Orleans Pelicans is guarded by Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriors (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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New Orleans Pelicans, Kevin Love, Zion Williamson
Kevin Love #0 of the Cleveland Cavaliers takes a charge from Zion Williamson #1 of the New Orleans Pelicans (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty ImagesN /

New Orleans Pelicans: NBA Draft trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers

The Franchise Changer

The Cleveland Cavaliers don’t really seem to have a direction. They have two expensive veterans in Andre Drummond and Kevin Love to go with a bunch of young guys who have some talent but are unproven.

Are they trying to win? Are they trying to rebuild? Either way, they stink and may decide that the only way to move forward is to trade one of their bigs. Kevin Love was unhappy there this season and is the most likely to be moved, as the Cavs would like out of his contract.

This one would drastically change both teams:

This one would get the Cavs out from under Love’s contract and replace him with one less year of Jrue Holiday. They get a project in NAW and still have a lottery pick to add more young talent.

The Pelicans get a stretch big to pair with Zion Williamson and would have one of the most potent offenses in the league, though their defense would likely be atrocious. They could add someone like Okongwu or Obi Toppin with the 5th pick and have a deep, fun team that would spread the floor and score a ton of points.

The Pelicans roster would be more balanced but they’d be taking on Love’s contract in his decline, which would not be good. This trade is far more appealing in the theoretical and extremely unlikely to happen, but it’s fun to consider the possibilities.