New Orleans Pelicans: 3 players the Pels could target in Bledsoe trade
The New Orleans Pelicans would love to move off Eric Bledsoe’s contract for a number of reasons.
He doesn’t really fit with Zion Williamson, Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram and his $18 million contract will make it more difficult for them to retain both Ball and Josh Hart in the offseason.
Bledsoe has looked checked out at times and probably deserved to be benched after admitting he wasn’t “paying attention” during a crucial play vs. the Knicks.
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The play of Kira Lewis Jr. and Naji Marshall has definitely made him expendable, but what could they get in a trade?
I wrote about the difficulties of trading Eric Bledsoe and that the Pels basically have two choices. Either give away a draft pick as a sweetener to a rebuilding team to take on Bledsoe’s money or trade him to a contender who has an equally bad contract to send back that might extend another year or two past Bledsoe’s.
Neither option is great, as the Pels would either be giving away draft capital just to get rid of a guy or taking on future money.
So here’s the thing: THE PELICANS HAVE NO LEVERAGE. None. So if you want to trade Bledsoe, you are taking back someone else’s problem or giving away draft picks, it’s that simple.
Here are three guys who might be their best options, starting with a player they’d have to give up at least a first round draft pick to get.
New Orleans Pelicans: The Pels could target Luguentz Dort
Dort definitely fits the profile of what the Pelicans need, as he is a very good defender at multiple positions, doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective and would improve their woeful perimeter defense.
The Thunder will likely have the cap space to absorb Bledsoe’s contract, which would free up a ton of cap space for the Pelicans to work with and give them a younger, better player to replace Bledsoe.
This isn’t going to come for free though, as Dort is making next to nothing and is very productive, so the Pels would have to chip in at least a first-round pick and probably more to make this happen.
OKC is a team that will use its cap space to take on more draft assets, so this is a trade they might make, but it would all come down to how much the Pelicans were willing to pay.