New Orleans Pelicans: Evaluating two proposed trades for Kemba Walker

New Orleans Pelicans: Trading Lonzo Ball for Kemba Walker is insane

Here is the first trade our friends at Hardwood Houdini proposed:

Ummm, no.

In this trade, the Pelicans are not only giving up a young point guard who is playing the best basketball of his career for a guy in decline but they are throwing in their starting center as well.

I get it, Lonzo Ball is an expiring deal and the Steven Adams experiment has not been a total success, so there are probably some Pels’ fans who wouldn’t mind getting off his contract.

But the Pels brought Steven Adams in and extended him to help change the culture, adding some toughness, rebounding and interior defense, which are things Stan Van Gundy loves.

While SVG would probably love Kemba as well, there is an argument that he is actually worse than Lonzo right now, especially defensively. Lonzo has also been a better 3-point shooter this season, which is something the Pels desperately need around their two young stars.

The New Orleans Pelicans are not going to trade Lonzo Ball for a 30-year-old point guard in decline. Otherwise, why wouldn’t they have just kept Jrue Holiday who is a better fit than Kemba Walker and making less money?

No. NO. and NOPE.

The next one is a little closer…