The New Orleans Pelicans reportedly have interest in trading for CJ McCollum.
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report wrote about the possibility, which makes sense for both teams.
The Pelicans desperately need shooting and the Trail Blazers would like to shed some payroll and McCollum seems like the logical choice given the rise of Anfernee Simons.
McCollum is a reliable veteran scorer who would give the Pels a third option behind Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram when/if the two are ever healthy at the same time.
But he does come with a hefty price tag both in terms of trade assets and salary and given McCollum’s age, there are also questions about the “timeline” New Orleans has talked about in the past.
If CJ McCollum is a fit, why not just keep Jrue Holiday?
Some fans have asked this question and I think it is a fair one, as Jrue Holiday could be playing the role the Pelicans envision for McCollum, and he was a fan-favorite who was already on the team.
I think it’s fair to ask but there are some differences between the two.
The first is that Holiday asked for a trade. It was him, not the team who was worried about timeline and Holiday wanted to play on a contender while he was still in his prime.
The Pelicans did their best to accommodate him, and Holiday got his ring. He also got a fat extension that runs a year longer than McCollum’s at about the same rate. Holiday is also older than McCollum, so this really isn’t the same situation.
The Pelicans would be getting two more seasons of McCollum at a guaranteed rate and don’t have to worry about his next contract. Holiday wanted out and may not have re-signed with the Pelicans anyway, so I get the question but the situations are not the same.
The New Orleans Pelicans’ present and future with CJ McCollum
The Pelicans have gotten nice development out of young guys like Herb Jones and Jose Alvarado to go along with the strong play of Josh Hart, Jonas Valanciunas and Brandon Ingram when they’ve all been healthy.
If you add McCollum to that group, the Pelicans could easily make the play-in tournament this season, which would be a step in the right direction and great experience for their young players, most of whom have never been in a playoff environment.
If Zion Williamson does come back this season (which is looking less and less likely) New Orleans could even make some noise in the playoffs and salvage a nice ending to an otherwise down season.
Going into next season, the Pelicans would be set with a Big 3 of Zion, BI and McCollum to go along with a solid cast of role players.
Veterans like Garrett Temple and Tomas Satoransky have undoubtedly been helpful with the young players at times but it would be nice to get a veteran who can actually play at a high level.
Getting McCollum wouldn’t prohibit the Pels from making future moves, and they will still have a load of draft assets even if they had to give up multiple picks to get him.
It makes the Pelicans better now and sets them up for the future without sacrificing their long-term flexibility, as they could always move McCollum if the fit wasn’t working out.
Is the cost worth it for the Pelicans?
It think it’s fair to say that adding a professional scorer like McCollum would make the Pelicans a better team, but what would they have to give up to make it happen?
If Satoransky’s contract is involved, the Pelicans still need to come up with around $14 million in salaries which means one of Nickeil Alexander-Walker or Jaxson Hayes and likely one of Devonte’ Graham or Josh Hart.
If the Pelicans had their choice, they’d probably send out NAW and Graham, but that doesn’t seem logical from Portland’s perspective unless the Pels padded out their offer with multiple first-round draft picks.
The Pels would love to do this deal without giving up Josh Hart, and I’d much rather see NAW and multiple picks go than Hart, who has been a key role player.
There is always a chance this will be part of a bigger deal involving more teams, but if the Pelicans can get McCollum without giving up Hart, then they should jump at the chance.
It will be interesting to see if David Griffin can pull this off, as he’ll be eager for the team to make some progress with Zion Williamson’s extension looming and the team in need of some veteran talent.