New Orleans Pelicans: 3 suave Lonzo Ball trades to make at the deadline

These three Lonzo Ball trades could make the New Orleans Pelicans even better at the NBA Trade Deadline

It’s no secret that the New Orleans Pelicans aren’t too happy about Lonzo Ball’s development. The former 2nd overall pick was expected to take the NBA by storm as this generation’s next great point guard, but unfortunately, that hasn’t happened.

Lonzo Ball plays a throwback game, he’s focused on passing and setting up the offense while playing reliable defense. Nothing flashy like the ceilings that many pundits gave him. That’s the problem.

In the modern NBA that’s so focused on offense, Lonzo Ball is a player who chooses not to score, and he lacks the aggression to do so. That’s part of the reason why the Pelicans have stumbled out to a 4-5 start to the season, and I think it’s only a matter of time that the team decides to move on. After all, they already drafted Kira Lewis Jr. who could be Ball’s replacement.

So how could the Pelicans move Lonzo Ball to get better at the trade deadline? Check out these three deadline deals we came up with.

Trade #1- Fixing the New Orleans Pelicans bench by letting Lonzo join forces with his brother in Charlotte

Our first trade is an obvious destination for Lonzo, and that’s a deal sending him to the Charlotte Hornets to join his brother LaMelo. Now you might be asking, why would the Pelicans help Lonzo out by doing this? Well, this deal could fix the Pelicans’ bench. Here it is:

In this deal, the Pelicans fix their terrible bench with a pair of young, cheap wings who might help the team’s spacing by receiving Miles Bridges and Malik Monk. I like this deal because Bridges has been an underrated wing player who’s continuing to get better. He’s shooting 39 percent from deep this season and has a team option for next season too.

Monk has been a disappointment in the NBA so far, but his 3 point shooting was spectacular during his college career at Kentucky. At only 22 years old, I think it’s possible that Monk could be like a young J.R. Smith, struggling with maturity issues early. In New Orleans with Stan Van Gundy in place, maybe Monk has a resurgence on this budding team.

Of course, Lonzo probably wouldn’t mind being the set-up man for LaMelo like the Chino Hill days, should this deal could be on the table. Let’s check out another move though.