Pelicans can make Zion's New York dreams come true with this trade

The New Orleans Pelicans are a team stuck in limbo. The organization essentially went "all in" in pursuit of a title or at least an extended playoff run this season when they traded for All-Star guard Dejounte Murray. Zion Williamson just had the healthiest season of his career and slimmed down significantly in the summer, leading by example for how serious this campaign was going to be for the Pelicans.

Unfortunately, pretty much everything that could have gone wrong has for New Orleans. Not only did Zion fail to stay healthy to build on last season's momentum, but the injury bug took down a whole slew of Pelicans and completely ravaged their rotation. Due to the sheer amount of absences they've had to endure, New Orleans has fallen to 4-13 and sunken to the very bottom of the Western Conference nearly a quarter of the way through the season.

With the sixth year of the Zion Williamson era failing so spectacularly for the Pelicans, one has to wonder if this season will mark a breaking point for the experiment. Zion and his camp may believe so, as he recently fired his representation, a move that reportedly might be due to his former agent and agency's inability to get him to the New York Knicks. If this is true, Zion's next representative may advise him to truly demand a trade, one specifically to New York, in order to fulfill his dreams. Getting strong-armed by a player is never a great situation for a franchise but that doesn't mean that the Pelicans couldn't find a deal that's beneficial to them too.

This three-team trade would be a perfect way for the Pelicans to send Zion Williamson to the New York Knicks

Crafting a straight-up trade between the Pelicans and the Knicks that would send Zion to New York wouldn't be easy. These two teams have some of the funkiest cap situations in the league due to their top-heavy salaries and lack of midrange contracts. The Knicks are also severely lacking in young players and draft assets following their trade for Mikal Bridges, so getting a third team involved would be the ideal move for New Orleans, as they'd be forced to rebuild if Williamson demands out.

This deal allows the Pelicans to send Zion to his preferred destination while loading up on future assets:

The Pelicans may not get any young prospects in this trade, but they do add a ton of assets to help them build for the future in four future first-round picks. This haul might seem a little short considering that the Knicks just dealt away five first-rounders and a pick swap in order to acquire Mikal Bridges, but teams are unlikely to make that kind of mistake again after Bridges's poor start to the season. Plus, Zion's trade stock has surely shrunk due to his injury history.

The draft picks aren't the only assets that New Orleans adds in this deal either. They also wind up with Fred VanVleet's monster contract that includes a $44 million cap hit for the 2025-26 NBA season. This might sound like a bad thing, but it's actually a huge bonus for the Pelicans, as it gives them a ton of flexibility.

The final year of FVV's deal is a club option, which would allow New Orleans to decline it this summer and free up $44 million off of their books. Alternatively, they could also pick up the last year of VanVleet's deal and make him a $44 million expiring contract which would make him one of the most desirable players in the league, one that they could flip in another trade.

Getting this haul would be a huge win for the Pelicans considering Zion's injury history and New Orleans's lack of leverage in this scenario. The Knicks double-down on their aggressive moves to build a title contender, forming one of the most lethal Big 3s in the league with Zion, Jalen Brunson, and Karl-Anthony Towns — a perfect center next to Big Z. The Rockets here buy low on Mikal Bridges, swapping one of their least effective players so far this season for a transformative two-way talent (when he's right).