Heading into the 2025-26 season, the New Orleans Pelicans have a rather deep rotation that features good guard play, elite forward play and a solid big man rotation. However, front offices are always trying to find different moves and trades they can make to improve their roster.
For the Pelicans, the obvious way to improve their roster is by trading big man Yves Missi. Despite earning All-Rookie team honors last season, a combination of poor performances in the Summer League and Joe Dumars' drafting a big man in the lottery has made it look like Missi could be on his way out.
Now, I know this is the 3rd or 4th article I’ve written about New Orleans trading Missi, but promise I'm not a hater. I think moving him makes sense for both Derik Queen's development and the Pelicans' playoff hopes this season.
The latest trade proposal I’ve come up with sees Missi being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Dalton Knecht, who was drafted four spots ahead of him in the 2024 NBA draft.
It makes way too much sense for both sides
Throughout the entirety of Luka Doncic's career, we’ve seen him thrive when he had a rim-running lob threat center to run the pick and roll with. If the Lakers were to acquire Missi, they would be putting Doncic in a perfect situation. With Missi also being on a rookie scale contract, he would be a cheap long-term option who could grow alongside Doncic.
For New Orleans, Knecht is a better long-term fit. During his rookie season, he shot 37.6% from three, while averaging 9.1 points per game. With the Pelicans being a bottom-five team shooting the three last season, he would instantly come in and give that a major boost.
Although his ability as a knockdown shooter is extremely valuable, we’ve also seen that he is way more than just a sharpshooter. Throughout the last 2 years of his collegiate career, we saw that Knecth is a bona fide scorer, and when he gets hot there’s virtually nothing you can do to stop him.
This is something that translated to the NBA, and we saw flashes of it during his rookie year. From November 13th to the 29th, Knecht averaged 18.9 points per game while shooting 52.2% from beyond the arc on nearly 8 attempts per game.
This run included multiple 20-plus scoring outings and a 37-point explosion against the Utah Jazz, where he drilled 9 triples. However, he did cool off when December came around, and we saw his confidence take a hit after he was part of a botched trade that saw him heading to the Charlotte Hornets for Mark Williams.
Since then, many fans, including myself, feel like the Lakers' trading Knecht is inevitable, as the relationship between him and the organization definitely took a hit after the failed trade.
If New Orleans can capitalize on this poor relationship and the Lakers' need for a long-term answer at the five by trading Missi there, they should do it. Knecht’s ability as a scorer and shooter would make him the perfect sixth man for this Pelicans core, both for the present and the future.