Pelicans: A lowball trade for Kristaps Porzingis could make sense

The New Orleans Pelicans are in a precarious situation with Zion Williamson.

The Pels are building the right kind of team around him, as they are surrounding Zion with players his own age who hopefully have complementary skills.

They got rid of some of the grumpy old veterans and replaced them with young wings like Trey Murphy III and Naji Marshall, who should hopefully improve the Pelicans defense.

They also added Jonas Valanciunas and Devonte’ Graham, players who should be better fits, though neither is a splashy name.

But with talk that Zion Williamson’s camp is unhappy with how things are going in New Orleans, the rumors are going to be flying all season, especially if things start slowly, with people wondering if the Pelicans have done enough to improve their roster.

This could lead David Griffin to taking some risks, including trading for a guy like Kristaps Porzingis.

Could the New Orleans Pelicans trade for Kristaps Porzingis?

Porzingis has had a strange career and much has been written about his flaws, namely that he can’t stay healthy and is on a massive contract that will pay him over $100 million over the next three seasons.

There is also some concern in Dallas that he and Luka Doncic are not a good fit, so Dallas would be eager to listen to trade proposals if they could get off of Porzingis’ contract.

The Pelicans wouldn’t likely have to give up much more than Valanciunas and Tomas Satoransky’s expiring deals to land Porzingis, which might be a worthwhile risk, especially if Valanciunas is not providing the spacing Zion Williamson needs to operate.

Valanciunas could be traded next season either way, as the Pels might not see him as part of the long-term plans considering he’ll be an unrestricted free agent after next season and will likely command more than $20 million per in his next deal.

Porzingis may have had a “down” season last year but he still averaged over 20 points per game, nearly nine rebounds, 1.3 blocked shots and was an elite shooter from 3-point range for his size.

These are all qualities the Pelicans could use but would it be worth the risk of taking on Porzingis’ injury history and contract?

I can’t see David Griffin making this move unless he is desperate to add a splashy name around Zion and Brandon Ingram. If so, Porzingis is one to monitor this season, as he would be a nice fit with the Pels’ two stars.