With Kevin Durant now a member of the Phoenix Suns, the trade market for OG Anunoby is heating up, especially in the Western Conference, where playoff hopefuls are eagerly trying to acquire a perimeter stopper who can tango with The Slim Reaper.
One of those teams are the New Orleans Pelicans, who have been in the mix for Anunoby ever since it was announced that the Toronto Raptors were open to moving him.
While his ability to provide positive impact to the team has never been in question, the cost for acquiring a player of his caliber has been.
And thanks to recent reporting courtesy of Michael Scotto, we now have an idea of what the Pelicans are willing to give up in order to acquire Anunoby.
"The New Orleans Pelicans have dangled draft pick compensation as the center of trade conversations with the Raptors for Anunoby, league sources told HoopsHype. New Orleans has also made players such as Naji Marshall, Kira Lewis, Jaxson Hayes, and Devonte’ Graham available in talks."
What’s interesting about this report isn’t so much the players involved, but the ones that aren’t mentioned. If you’ll recall, we talked about comments made by Raptors Beat Writer Eric Koreen that hinted at any potential Anunoby offer from the Pelicans needing to include one of Trey Murphy III, Dyson Daniels, or the 2023 first-round pick owed to them by the Los Angeles Lakers.
With neither Murphy nor Daniels on the list of players New Orleans reportedly made available, that likely means the team will need to offer up their highly-coveted Lakers’ pick to get the deal done.
So far, it has seemed like the Pelicans are hesitant to part ways with the pick, given that it could become a high-end lottery spot in a loaded draft class.
However, with Los Angeles recently orchestrating a three-team deal that stands to make them significantly better in the short-term, maybe New Orleans is now more inclined to part ways with that asset.
But another thing to think about, what if Toronto no longer values the pick as much, given the Lakers’ newfound upside? What if they are going to still want one of Murphy or Daniels? Who knows.
If the Durant move is any indication, literally anything could happen between now and the 3 pm Eastern Standard Time.