New Orleans Pelicans: 4 Potential trades for Nicolo Melli

The New Orleans Pelicans need depth at the wing, which is why they should trade Nicolo Melli.

The New Orleans Pelicans went into the offseason with a lot of needs, some of which have been addressed with the Jrue Holiday trade.

But after trades, the draft and free agency, the Pels still have some glaring holes that might require a trade to fix.

The Pelicans don’t really have a backup small forward behind Brandon Ingram, which is not good considering his health history and the fact that he is not a great defender.

The Pels biggest offseason need was arguably a big wing who can defend and they failed to address it. But could they trade to get one?

The Pelicans are loaded at guard with Lonzo Ball, Eric Bledsoe, JJ Redick, Josh Hart, Nickeil-Alexander-Walker and Kira Lewis Jr., so it makes sense that they might trade from their surplus to get a wing.

But they also added Wenyen Gabriel, a big defensive-minded power forward who could make Nicolo Melli expendable. If the Pels could package Melli to get back a wing who can defend, it would help balance the roster without giving up any of their guard talent.

Here are four trades that could work.

New Orleans Pelicans: Trading Nicolo Melli to the Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks

The Pels might have to give up more than this to pry Finney-Smith away from Dallas, but he is the type of long wing they could use.

In this trade, Dallas gets a stretch-four to put next to Luka Doncic, and Melli is a nice complement to the bigs they already have. They also get a second-round pick (the Pels might have to throw in another one) and some future cap space, as Melli is an expiring deal.

Would the Mavs be interested in Melli plus a pick and some cap space? They just drafted Tyler Bey and if they think he is good enough to play, Finney-Smith could be available.