The Brooklyn Nets just selected French guard Nolan Traore with the No. 19 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. The selection originally belonged to the Milwaukee Bucks, but it was in the hands of the New Orleans Pelicans for a brief moment in time before finding its way to Brooklyn.
New Orleans traded the pick in the CJ McCollum trade, which hasn’t panned out quite as well as the Pelicans may have dreamed. When they made the move, they were primed for years of deep playoff runs led by Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and McCollum. But since then, the team has gone downhill.
It’s been a blend of bad luck and subpar basketball.
How did the pick go from the Pelicans to Nets?
The No. 19 pick, originally owned by Milwaukee, was a part of the deal that sent Jrue Holiday to the Bucks. Holiday was shipped out of New Orleans in a four-team deal that brought back a haul of draft capital.
It was then a part of the aforementioned McCollum Trade. However, it wasn’t supposed to be this first-rounder. The actual pick the Pelicans traded was a 2022 first, but it was protected. And since it didn’t convey in 2022, it turned into a top-four-protected 2025 selection.
From there, the pick was a part of the Blazers’ trade for Jerami Grant, so it landed with the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons then sent the selection to the New York Knicks for the rights to Jalen Duren (and Kemba Walker). And then finally, it was one of the many picks the Knicks sent to the Nets in the Brooklyn Nets trade.
Over the course of roughly four years, the pick was traded five separate times before ending up with the Nets.
Why did CJ McCollum trade fail?
In theory, the McCollum trade should have been perfect for the Pelicans. Williamson and Ingram were a bright young duo, with the former on the brink of superstardom.
When they traded for McCollum in February of 2022, it was with a win-now attitude. They squeaked into the postseason that year, but were bounced in the first round, and the next couple of seasons weren’t much better.
They barely scraped together an above-500 record in the 2022-23 season, missing the playoffs. The next year was much kinder, as New Orleans went 49-33, but in a stacked Western Conference, they were still stuck in the Play-In Tournament, and they lost in the first round once again.
McCollum has been a fine addition to the club since the trade, but unfortunately, success hasn’t followed the move. And in the end, injuries and other outside factors aside, the deal may end up being regarded as a flop.