The New Orleans Pelicans have a busy offseason ahead of them. In fact, they've already had an extremely active first few days. They kicked off the end of their 2024-25 NBA campaign by firing former Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin.
They ensured that they would have a cohesive vision throughout the summer by swiftly replacing him, hiring Joe Dumars just a day later to fill Griff's seat. While they've already done plenty, the Pelicans still have a lot to do in what could be the most important offseason in franchise history.
Part of their busy, busy offseason will be determining Zion Williamson's future in New Orleans. There have been mixed reports all throughout the year, and they haven't stopped with this latest change in the front office. Instead, the noise surrounding Zion has gotten even louder, with rumors of a trade mandate really stirring things up. Until he's actually moved, though, the Pelicans may as well continue to try to build an ideal team around Big Z. This proposed trade from Bleacher Report could be a great place to start for Joe Dumars.
The Pelicans acquire a true stretch big to put next to Zion Williamson
For years, the book has been out on how to maximize Zion Williamson. It's the same recipe for every paint-dominant and defense-averse star player: put a stretch big next to them that can protect the rim and space the floor. The only problem is that archetype is highly coveted, which makes acquiring such a player both difficult and expensive.
There are only a few athletes in the league capable of anchoring a defense full-time while also being enough of a shooting threat to truly strike fear in opposing defenses. Most of them happen to be literal superstars, or unicorns, such as Victor Wembanyama, Chet Holmgren, and Joel Embiid. There are only a few select "3-and-D" bigs that are strictly role players, like Isaiah Stewart and Myles Turner. They might not be stars, but they're still highly valued by their teams and wouldn't be easy to poach. Outside of those true stretch fives, teams have to make concessions somewhere — either in terms of shooting, size, or defense.
The Pelicans traded for Kelly Olynyk before the trade deadline, and he's been a pleasant surprise for them as a shooting big man. He's got the outside touch to truly space the floor and the size to maintain New Orleans's positional integrity and rebounding aptitude, but he's far from an elite rim protector.
This trade has the Pelicans acquiring another imperfect stretch big in Lauri Markkanen. No one doubts his deep marksmanship, as he's stroked 38 percent of his triples on eight attempts per night with the Utah Jazz. He's also a legit seven-footer, so New Orleans would have plenty of size with him in the lineup, whether he's next to Zion as the center, filling in at power forward, or giving the Pels a jumbo look at small forward.
Like Olynyk, Markkanen's never been a full-time defensive anchor. However, his size, athleticism, and tape suggest that he's much more capable of being a regular rim protector than his former teammate, Kelly. For what it's worth, he's slid over at the five for the Jazz a handful of times in the last three years, and the results have been pretty encouraging. This past season, he hardly played center, but, in 2023-24, he logged 76 possessions there. With him manning the middle, the Jazz had a +34.2 net rating, pouring in 143.4 points while holding opponents to just 109.2 per 100 possessions.
While Lauri's positional versatility would be a huge bonus, giving the Pels legitimate insurance for Zion at power forward, this trade would only make sense for New Orleans if they believe Markkanen could play center full-time. Otherwise, they're already loaded at power forward and on the wings, with Zion, Trey Murphy III, and Herb Jones all in need of starter minutes. But it's an experiment worth looking into for the Pelicans.
In return, they offload CJ McCollum, Jordan Hawkins, and two future first-round picks. The price is pretty steep. CJ is a high quality veteran that Utah should be able to flip to a contender pretty easily. Even if they couldn't, he's a $30 million expiring contract that'll offer his employer significant cap relief next summer. Jordan Hawkins might be off to a wayward start to his NBA career, but he's still young and has plenty of potential with numerous promising flashes to prove it. Between those two players, New Orleans should be looking to talk this down to just one first-round pick, and not a premium one either.
Grade: B-