The New Orleans Pelicans are expected to be heavily involved before the 2024-25 NBA season's trade deadline. The team has reportedly made nearly everyone on the roster available to be moved outside of a few young prospects they'd like to keep around for the future, including second-year guard Jordan Hawkins who was recently named an untouchable asset for them.
That leaves them with an absolute trove of high-level veterans and stars that they could deal away this year, including Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, and, of course, Brandon Ingram. The market for these players could be scarce or even barren, as it was reported that league executives don't expect many big contracts to be traded this season, but the tides could be changing.
One major domino that could lead to a flurry of high-profile swaps going down is Jimmy Butler, who has apparently decided that his time with the Miami Heat will be coming to an end soon. The All-NBA wing out of Marquette has a $50 million player option for next season and has quietly made it known that he plans on opting out and signing with a different team in the offseason, essentially strongarming the Heat into trading him this year, lest they risk losing him for nothing in the offseason.
The Pelicans are in a similar situation with Ingram, who is currently in the last year of his contract. At season's end, he'll become an unrestricted free agent unless he agrees to an extension with New Orleans before June 30, although they'd need some kind of confirmation from him before the trade deadline or else they'll be in the same situation as Miami: in danger of losing a valuable asset with nothing in return. That's why it's best for the Pelicans to trade him before the deadline, so they can ensure that they can receive something in exchange for his services at the least; just as it would behoove the Heat to deal Butler before he can walk away in free agency. Trading Jimmy Butler won't be an easy task for Miami, but the New Orleans Pelicans could draw up something that would benefit both them and the Heat.
The New Orleans Pelicans should facilitate a Jimmy Butler trade to the Golden State Warriors
ESPN's Shams Charania originally stated that Butler had asked for a trade away from the Miami Heat, preferably to three different destinations: the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns, or Houston Rockets. That report was refuted by Butler's agent, Bernie Lee. Charania doubled down on that news in response and has since released another report confirming that Butler prefers to be traded, this time narrowing his list of new teams to just two: the Warriors and the Suns.
Both of teams would be hard-pressed to cobble together a package that would appease the Heat who would likely look to remain competitive with Bam Adebayo, Tyler Herro, and other win-now players still on the roster. The Warriors have some exciting young prospects that would interest a lot of teams in the league, but they wouldn't be able to send anyone that could keep the Heat in contention without gutting their roster and essentially negating any benefits from acquiring Butler.
That's where the Pelicans come in. New Orleans doesn't have any reason to trade for Butler now that their season has been lost to injury. As they've seemingly chosen to rebuild their roster, though, they should be highly interested in Golden State's young players and any draft capital they could acquire before the trade deadline.
This trade would accomplish the goals of all three teams involved. The Warriors wind up with Jimmy Butler while maintaining their depth and building a championship contender around their new star forward, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green. Alec Burks comes in to help replenish some of the wing depth they lose in this deal.
The Heat would stay competitive after this deal and could even slightly improve. CJ McCollum gives them another ball-handler, something they've desperately needed practically throughout the entirety of the Bam Adebayo era in Miami. His blend of playmaking and self-sufficient scoring would help mitigate the offensive droughts that the Heat have been prone to succumb to, especially in the playoffs.
Miami downgrades slightly on the flanks from Butler to Brandon Ingram, but his presence should significantly soften the blow. He might not be the proven postseason riser that Butler is, but he should be able to fill the scoring void, at least in the regular season. He's also eight years younger and slots in nicely with the Heat's timeline built around Adebayo and Herro. His 3-point shooting has been a point of contention throughout his tenure with the Pelicans, but he'll serve as an outside shooting upgrade compared to Butler which should help open up the lane for Bam. Kevon Looney gives them depth at center, something they lost when traded away Thomas Bryant.
For the Pelicans, this is about as good of a package as they can ask for in return for Ingram. They might not walk away with any draft capital in this deal, but they do add two promising young players that could become franchise cornerstones for them in Jonathan Kuminga and Nikola Jovic. Terry Rozier, Andrew Wiggins, and Gary Payton II give them three players who they could easily flip to other contenders for either more prospects or draft picks.