New Orleans Pelicans: Giving Boston’s disappointing big man a scenery change
By Nick Alvarez
The New Orleans Pelicans should take a risk on the athletic Robert Williams III if the Boston Celtics put him on the market
It’s preseason for the New Orleans Pelicans, but that doesn’t mean that it’s too early to look ahead at some players the team could target at the upcoming trade deadline.
After all, we wrote recently that given the Pelicans’ short rotation, they’ll likely need some additions at the deadline if they really want to make the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference.
That’s why I’m focusing on Robert Williams III, a young big man who currently playing his way out of the Boston Celtics’ rotation over in the Eastern Conference.
Why pursue Williams? Well, he’s exactly the type of player the Pelicans could use in their frontcourt, another athletic big man who can run the floor. But we’ll get into that later in this piece, first let’s look at how the Pelicans could acquire Robert Williams III.
The Trade
It’s a fairly simple and straight-up deal, a distressed asset in exchange for draft picks, but there plenty of reasons why both sides would feel like this is a beneficial deal. So let’s dig deeper and evaluate why each side could make this minor deal at the 2021 trade deadline.