New Orleans Pelicans News: A multi-team blockbuster nets Steven Adams

The New Orleans Pelicans made a splash move by acquiring Steven Adams from the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team trade

Wow, if there ever was a reason why the NBA offseason gets hyped out so much, this series of events would have to be it. As most of the world sleeps at 1 AM on Friday,  the New Orleans Pelicans decided to shake up the NBA landscape once again by making a four-team trade for center Steven Adams of the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The process for making this deal happen is still a woosy for the New Orleans Pelicans. Initial reports suggested that the deal would be expanding the Pelicans’ earlier trade with the Milwaukee Bucks into a multi-team deal with the Thunder, but that quickly augmented.

As you can see in the above report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Pelicans are still kind of expanding their Milwaukee trade to make this move happen, but it’s really their draft-night deal with the Denver Nuggets that they are expanding.

With all the constant news incoming, Wojnarowski’s wording made the move sound a little confusing so here it is completely mapped out as it stands right now for fans to analyze:

So, there it is in a clean layout. The New Orleans Pelicans get center Steven Adams from the Thunder as we initially mentioned, while the Denver Nuggets get RJ Hampton who the Pelicans selected with the 24th pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and the Oklahoma City Thunder receive future picks from both the Nuggets and Pelicans.

A little bit confusing? Yeah, I know. That’s before even mentioning that this trade is technically still connected to the Bucks trade because the Pelicans acquired the 24th pick that was used to selected Hampton by trading Jrue Holiday to Milwaukee. Also, Eric Bledsoe and Geroge Hill could still end up moving in the deal as well. Let’s not get into that right now though.

This trade is massive for the New Orleans Pelicans. After moving Holiday to Milwaukee for a pair of veteran guards and then punting on the 2020 NBA Draft for more assets, many fans were wondering when the Pelicans were going to fill some of their roster holes. David Griffin then promised that more moves would be coming, and now he’s certainly delivered.

Steven Adams is an instant upgrade to the Pelicans’ weak interior thanks to his combination of defense, rebounding, and screen-setting. He’s exactly the type of player the Pelicans needed to add to boost their frontcourt depth, and he looks like he’ll fit perfectly in Stan Van Gundy’s system.

Of course, that’s just our quick reaction to the acquisition of Adams as it happened, be sure to check back for additional breakdowns of how the Pelicans did in the trade, and how Adams will fit with the team’s future.

Update: The New Orleans Pelicans have sent George Hill, Darius Miller, and second-round picks in 2023 (via Charlotte) and 2024 (via Washington) to the Oklahoma City Thunder complete this trade