The New Orleans Pelicans are approaching a crossroads as a franchise. Two weeks from now, this team could look completely different from the roster that they brought into the 2024-25 NBA season. Not only could the personnel be totally unfamiliar, but the entire organizational direction and focus should be shifted from their outlook at the beginning of the year.
If they're wise, the Pelicans will make some major moves ahead of the trade deadline, to ensure that they lose as many games as possible to finish the season and maximize their odds in the NBA Draft lottery. Currently, New Orleans has far too much talent when fully healthy to tank organically, evidenced by their record in January, even without Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson for a majority of the games.
The Pelicans know that they have to make trades this season, but it's not enough to make deals just for the sake of change. Shedding players like Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum will aid New Orleans no matter what, simply because it'll make it easier for the team to lose games and increase their chances at landing a top draft pick. However, the franchise should still be vigilant in identifying the best possible return packages in exchange for their veteran stars. The Pelicans have an underrated and understated strength as a franchise that they should focus on in this next era of their roster construction. They should keep this advantage in mind when making their trade deadline deals to accelerate their rebuild and maximize their efficiency as a franchise moving forward.
The New Orleans Pelicans should seek out late draft picks to help build their next era
It's clear that the Pelicans need to trade CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, and the rest of their win-now veterans. This will not only help them lose games and increase their draft lottery odds, but it'll also ensure that they can get some kind of return in exchange for the services of their desirable pieces.
But what should they be looking for in these trades? The Pelicans could try to retool with these deals. This would see them trying to trade their pieces for equivalent talents while upgrading the fit around their current roster. This wouldn't be a horrible direction, but it wouldn't help them tank. They'd lose this entire season for nothing and wind up with another late lottery pick, sticking them back into NBA purgatory.
Instead, the Pelicans need to accumulate as much young talent and draft capital as possible, even if it's later selections and not premiere picks. Between Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, Jordan Hawkins, and Yves Missi, New Orleans already has a young core of established players good enough to compete for a postseason berth as early as next season if they're healthy.
They won't — or at least, shouldn't — have another chance at a top lottery pick anytime soon. This means that they won't have much opportunity to add high-quality young talent moving forward.
That's why they need to maximize their draft odds this summer by tanking the rest of the season. It's also why they should try to garner as much draft capital and as many promising young players as they can with the trades they make this year.
One thing that Executive Vice President David Griffin and this Pelicans' front office has proven to be good at is nailing their draft selections, especially their later picks. The draft is an absolute crapshoot, so no one is going to have a 100 percent hit rate. Griffin has had his fair share of misses, like Kira Lewis Jr. and Jaxson Hayes. But, he's had some huge jackpots as well, especially later in the draft.
Herb Jones was the 35th overall pick. Trey Murphy III was 17th. Yves Missi was 21st. The Pelicans should try to give Griffin as many swings as the plate as possible to see how many homeruns he can hit in these next few years.
Ingram and CJ should have decent trade stock, but they won't command these massive packages that we've seen exchanged for superstars like Kevin Durant and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Pelicans need to extract as much value as they can out of these deals, and the best way to do so would be to grab as much draft capital as possible, including with late firsts and second-rounders.