Pelicans: Pros and cons of a sign-and-trade of Josh Hart for Buddy Hield

The New Orleans Pelicans have already had a busy offseason but they still have some loose ends to tie up, including Josh Hart.

Hart is a restricted free agent, and we hadn’t heard much about him this offseason until yesterday, when several outlets reported that the Pels had discussed a sign-and-trade of Hart to the Kings for Buddy Hield:

The Pelicans still have the cap space to sign Hart or another free agent like Lauri Markkanen, but seem to be waiting for the market to settle down before making their move.

This deal was reportedly discussed around the NBA Draft, so there is no telling if it is still on the table, but it does offer some interesting possibilities, as well as some pros and cons.

Pelicans: Buddy Hield is a much better shooter than Josh Hart

Pro: The most obvious benefit of doing a sign-and-trade of Josh Hart for Buddy Hield is that Heild is a far superior shooter and scorer in general.

Hield shot over 39 percent from 3-point range on a whopping 10.2 attempts per game last season, accuracy and volume that rank him among the league’s best shooters. Josh Hart took a step backwards last season, shooting just 32 percent on four attempts per game, worst of his career.

If you want to look at the types of players to add around Zion Williamson, then a guy who can spread the floor like Hield is pretty much it.

The Pelicans should already have improved 3-point shooting with the additions of Jonas Valanciunas and Trey Murphy III, who shot the lights out in his first Summer League game, but adding another weapon like Hield could give the Pelicans the best offense in the league.

Defenses would pay dearly for double and triple teaming Zion, as they did all last season, as he would now have multiple weapons on the perimeter.

From an offensive standpoint, this would be a massive win for the Pelicans, but there are some cons as well.

Pelicans: Losing Josh Hart could make the Pels even worse defensively

Con: Josh Hart was probably the Pelicans’ best defender last season, which is not saying much, as they were pretty much terrible as a team and didn’t really have any great individual defenders.

Losing Hart could take a toll on the defense, but considering how bad they have been for the last two seasons, would anyone really notice?

Hield is not good defensively, that is true, but it’s not like the Pels were lights out with Hart or that he was an elite defender, because he wasn’t.

He is an elite rebounder, which does help the Pelicans close out defensive possessions, so in that regard, losing him would hurt the Pels.

But with Trey Murphy III, Naji Marshall and Herbert Jones now coming off the Pels’ bench, the loss of Hart might not even be felt and the Pels could actually be better on defense.

Marshall looked fantastic in the first Summer League game and is probably ready to take over the role of hustle/defense/rebounder off the bench for the Pels.

While Hart may be a better defender individually, he’s not so good that he would offset his limitations on offense, nor what Buddy Hield would ultimately bring to that end.

I’m not really sure this one really is a con to be honest.

Pelicans: Buddy Hield costs a lot more than Josh Hart

Con: So we’ve established that Buddy Hield is the superior offensive player (by far) and that the loss of Hart’s defense probably wouldn’t hurt that much.

The only real con I see to acquiring Buddy Hield is his contract.

Hield is owed $22.4 million next season, $20.5 the season after that and $18.5 in the 2023-24 season.

This is a hefty price to pay for a guy who is mostly a 3-point specialist, but given what some of these guys are getting in free agency, it’s not crazy.

The price actually goes down each year, which is good, and let’s face it, $20 million is pretty much minimum wage for an NBA player who can shoot these days.

The Pels have a huge trade exception that would absorb most of Heild’s deal, so this season it wouldn’t look too bad, but it could become problematic when they are trying to re-sign Zion Williamson to what will likely be a astronomical rookie extension next offseason.

I think it’s worth a shot, as Hield would give the Pelicans a very deep team with a lot of lineup options that would always allow for Zion Williamson to be surrounded by shooters.

If David Griffin can work this deal, he should get on the phone and get it done.