The New Orleans Pelicans are expected to be active ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season's trade deadline in February. Coming into the year, many expected the Pelicans to try to do two things: deal away Brandon Ingram and acquire a starting center. Now that they're sitting at 5-28 on the season, their goals have obviously changed but the team is still set to be major players before the trade deadline.
The Pelicans are still expected to try to move Ingram, but he won't be the only player on the chopping block. Reportedly, New Orleans is expected to make nearly everyone on the roster available in deals, including Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, and even Dejounte Murray who they just traded for last summer.
Essentially, the team is headed for a reset, empowered by this disastrous season riddled with injuries that have strongarmed them into an unexpected tank. With all of their veterans listed for sale, New Orleans should have two new goals in mind: load up on draft capital and obtain as many young talents as possible. Or, the Pelicans could do something like this proposed deal where they act as facilitators in a trade.
The Pelicans get thrown into a four-team Jimmy Butler trade by ESPN
ESPN recently listed ways to get Jimmy Butler to his rumored preferred trade destinations in the Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, and Golden State Warriors. After two trips to the Finals with no hardware to show for them, the Miami Heat have seemingly settled on the fact that they won't be able to reach the pinnacle with their current core.
While Butler's agent has since refuted Shams Charania's claims that he wants out of Miami, Shams has doubled down on his reporting, including his leaked list of suitors. Making a trade for a superstar like Butler won't be an easy task, as he's an aging, apparently disgruntled superstar making $48 million this year with a player option for $52 million next season.
His designated destinations are borderline title contenders that would become major championship threats with him in the mix, given that they don't sacrifice their entire roster in order to acquire him. That's what makes it tricky, accomplishing a blockbuster trade while also maintaining a team capable of winning it all.
For the Mavericks, a franchise short on expendable and desirable trade assets, ESPN surmised that they would need to get two other teams involved to make a deal work with the Miami Heat. Kevin Pelton proposed the following trade:
"Mavericks get: Jimmy Butler
Heat get: Brandon Ingram, Naji Marshall, Daniel Theis
Pelicans get: Daniel Gafford, Dwight Powell, Klay Thompson
Pistons get: Maxi Kleber, 2025 DAL 1 (top-14 protected)
This is the most complicated trade, requiring four teams to allow the three with tax or apron concerns to avoid adding salary. The upshot here is Dallas turning role players into Butler, Miami getting back Ingram as a younger -- and possibly cheaper -- replacement, and New Orleans saving money and rebalancing its rotation with a starting center and one of the great shooters in NBA history. Detroit uses its cap space to take on Kleber's contract, which runs through 2025-26."
It's incredibly difficult to outline a trade of this magnitude between four teams in which all four squads get a good return. This trade is proof of that, as it's hard to say that the Pelicans are in here for any other reason than to make the deal work for the Mavericks and the Heat.
Pelton has to be operating under the assumption that New Orleans still intends to build around Zion and make another run at the playoffs next season rather than opt for a reset. Even if that were the case, it's hard to say that the Pelicans make out as winners in this deal.
In return for Brandon Ingram and Daniel Theis, they get back an average-level starting center in Daniel Gafford, a washed-up veteran in Daniel Gafford, and a legendary shooter who's in the twilight of his career in Klay Thompson. Even with Ingram in a contract year, this is well below market value for a 27-year-old borderline All-Star.
Grade: D+