The Dallas Mavericks and their President of Basketball Operations Nico Harrison have completely taken over the NBA trade deadline and its surrounding news cycle. Seemingly out of nowhere, the Mavs traded 25-year-old franchise superstar Luka Doncic along with a second-round pick to the Los Angeles Lakers in return for Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and LA's 2029 first-round selection.
This deal truly shook the NBA world like we've never seen before. Teams and executives around the league are not only reeling from the news, but they've actually adjusted their deadline plans and even their flight itineraries in anticipation of potential ripple effects from the fallout of such a monumental shakeup. The New Orleans Pelicans should definitely be taking notes regarding the Doncic trade for a variety of reasons.
Firstly, the Pelicans were expected to be heavily active at this season's trade deadline, but there hasn't been much buzz surrounding the team and all of its many available parts. The Doncic-Davis swap has proven that major NBA deals can still be accomplished in silence, though, so the New Orleans brass needs to stay vigilant in their attempts to revamp the roster. On a different note, the blockbuster deal between the Mavericks and the Lakers should have the Pelicans at least considering a similar move.
Zion Williamson should take the Luka Doncic trade as a warning
For hours after the trade was first announced, fans, analysts, and pundits all around the league racked their brains trying to understand Nico Harrison's perspective when he pulled the trigger for the Mavericks. The deal was so shocking that many spectators thought that Shams Charania, who was the first to break the trade for ESPN, was hacked.
When Charania tweeted again to ensure the public that he indeed broke the very real news and other sources began to aggregate it, people then began to suspect that there was something behind the scenes that caused Dallas to trade Doncic. Perhaps it was a contract dispute or maybe Doncic and his camp demanded a trade without leaking the details.
As more information came out about the deal, though, two things became clear. One, Nico Harrison basically made the trade entirely on his own. While ownership and other executives did have to sign off on it, Harrison directly proposed the move to the Lakers and their General Manager Rob Pelinka without shopping Doncic to any other teams or even making it known that he was available. Secondly, he made the trade because he had concerns about Doncic's conditioning and how it would affect his long-term health and availability.
This season, the Pelicans have supposedly been open to listening to offers for Zion Williamson. They also made a few of their young players untouchable in any potential deals, not including Z. Those two reports sent a clear message to Williamson and the rest of the league: New Orleans is thinking about a future without Zion Williamson.
It's hard to blame the organization. Now in his sixth season, Zion has only played in 252 out of 450 possible games with the Pelicans. New Orleans has managed to make the playoffs just twice since drafting him, and Williamson has still yet to make his playoff debut due to injuries. It's only natural that the team reevaluate things after so many shortcomings and difficulties.
Still, the team has been presented with a golden opportunity this season to potentially add another blue-chip prospect to a core featuring Zion, rising star Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, and others. They owe it to those players, the city, and their fans to at least see how things play out next season around Zion. But, if Williamson can't stay healthy or at least prove that he's committed to maintaining his new playing weight and level of conditioning, perhaps the Pelicans should cut ties the way the Mavericks did with Luka Doncic. If it comes to that, hopefully, New Orleans will have a much better process and result than Dallas.