The New Orleans Pelicans enter the 2026 offseason with few problems bigger than their starting center spot.Â
With Zion Williamson set to slot in at the power forward spot once again next season, ideally, New Orleans should look for a rebounding floor spacer at the five. When looking around the league, bigs who can shoot and still have an impactful paint presence are hard to find. However, the perfect opportunity to find a player of this exact archetype is emerging for the Pelicans. The Chicago Bulls just named Bryson Graham as their new front office leader, and he will likely be doing an entire overhaul of the Bulls roster this offseason.
This opens the door for the Pelicans to sneak in and steal Jalen Smith from their former executive's new team. Smith has one more year on his deal at $9.4 million and is a reliable rebounder and floor spacer.
Jalen Smith is a major sleeper
This past season, Smith appeared in 53 games for the Bulls and averaged 10.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks in 20.7 minutes per game. Smith also shot 37.3 percent from three on over four attempts per game. The former 10th overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft never quite reached the fringe All-Star potential many evaluators thought he had, but he's still turned into a very serviceable big man option in his six seasons in the league.
What separates Smith from other 'shooting big men' is that he can really knock down the outside shot. Often, we see bigs get tagged as shooters, but they lack consistency. Smith is the opposite. Over the last three seasons, he has shot 36.3 percent from three.Â
The other flaw that can follow floor spacing bigs is that if the shot isn’t following, they can’t be effective. But again, Smith is the opposite. In fact, this season, he was in the 98th percentile in efficiency differential and had an estimated wins added of 30 according to Cleaning the Glass. In general advanced metrics love Smith.
For years now, people have speculated that the best way to unlock Zion’s fullest potential is to give him a floor spacer in the frontcourt. Having a big man who won't clog the lane and can be another kick-out option for Z could really help unlock a new level of both his scoring and playmaking. The pick-and-pop actions New Orleans could run with Zion as the ball handler and Smith as the popper would be deadly.
At 26 years old and with one year left on his deal, it's unlikely the Bulls' new front office really views Smith as a long-term piece. With Graham's connections to the Pelicans, maybe he'll do the franchise a solid and send the Maryland big man to the Big Easy.
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