Should the New Orleans Pelicans be patient or make a trade?

Why the New Orleans Pelicans should be patient

I’ve seen enough of the New Orleans Pelicans to say confidently that if Zion Williamson had been playing all season, they’d be a playoff team.

The pieces are here right now but without the nucleus it doesn’t matter.

I think the Pels will have something in the Graham, Ingram, Jones, Zion, Valanciunas starting five and should at least give them a chance to get some run together before they start tinkering.

Yes, the bench is bad, but who are they going to trade that is going to help? Trading any of their young guys would be selling low and they aren’t likely to get much back, so at this point, it’s not worth it.

There really isn’t a guy out there right now who is going to move the needle (unless the Pelicans wanted to get really crazy and give up the farm for Damian Lillard) for the Pelicans and they don’t need to “tank” because they already have the worst record in the Western Conference.

As boring as it may sound to some fans, I really don’t see the New Orleans Pelicans making a splashy move, and outside of potentially trading Josh Hart or one of Satoransky or Temple, it’s hard to see them making a move at all.

The New Orleans Pelicans are what they are right now: A team in waiting.

This season has been a disappointment but that doesn’t mean it’s time to blow things up.