The Pelicans need to avoid the mistakes Cleveland made with LeBron

The Pelicans need to avoid the wrong high-priced veterans

After trading Bledsoe and Adams for Valanciunas, the Pelicans don’t really have anyone left on their roster who can be considered a “high-priced veteran.”

This is a good thing, as it was one of the reasons the Cavaliers failed with LeBron James the first time around.

Every offseason they signed some nearly washed veteran to a big deal in an effort to appease LeBron, which often cost them later in the season when they were unable to make moves to improve the team.

The Pelicans have a ton of draft assets and young players to make a big trade, but if the right guy isn’t there, they shouldn’t get desperate and try to make a move just to make one.

There are some moderate free agents still available and the Pelicans have some cap space, but they could just sit on it, roll with the team they have and then try to use it to facilitate a trade later on when they can more easily identify their needs.

So far this offseason the Pelicans chose not to pay Lonzo Ball a big salary and instead got Devonte’ Graham who may be a better fit and is half the price. Graham is the right age to grow with the team, so the Pels didn’t overpay or throw a lot of money at an older player like DeMar DeRozan.

Who knows, this young team might surprise some people and be better than last season, either way, it is certain to be a lot more fun, which is also important.