New Orleans Pelicans: Why Bradley Beal should be #1 offseason target

New Orleans Pelicans: The free-agent choices are grim

People have been talking about this year’s free agent class for years but I am not sure why, as it really isn’t that great.

Yes, there are some big names but few of them are likely to change teams, as Kawhi Leonard and Chris Paul both have player options that they are probably going to exercise.

The rest of the unrestricted free agents are guys like Kyle Lowry and Mike Conley, who are both older and worse than Beal and might make about as much money.

There just aren’t many impact free agents that the Pelicans have a realistic shot of signing, so if they want to make a big splash, it will have to be via trade.

There are some low-cost free agents the Pels could target for sure, but the group lacks many guys who have the right combination of age, talent and contract to fit on the Pelicans.

It might be true that the New Orleans Pelicans don’t need a guy like Beal, and trading for him may reduce their chances of keeping both Josh Hart and Lonzo Ball, but if the Pels want to speed things up, start a winning culture around Zion Williamson and set themselves up for the future, they should do what it takes to trade for Bradley Beal.