The trade deadline is over, and the New Orleans Pelicans made one trade. Yes, the team that is 13-40 this season made one trade. The team with no first-round pick in the 2026 draft made one trade.
This was the Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver-led front offices' chance to establish direction and commit to a plan. Whether that be making buying moves with the hope of building momentum heading into the 2026-27 season. Or selling hard and gaining back future assets (my preferred choice) that can be used to build out a future around Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen.
But instead, they did neither of those things. The only trade made saw the team's heart and soul, Jose Alvarado, sent to the New York Knicks in exchange for a pair of second-round picks and Dalen Terry.
By refusing to act, the Pelicans made sure that this deadline wouldn’t be remembered for what they did but for what they refused to do, simultaneously continuing the trend of this team having no direction.
Another missed opportunity
As someone who has spent years playing fake GM in NBA 2k, the way the front office is run seriously hurts my brain. Not because building a roster is easy, but because the clear signs calling for change keep getting ignored.
This core has been together for nearly five years. The result? Zero playoff series wins. And yet, there has been no urgency to shake things up or offer fans a genuinely new vision.
The Pelicans didn’t even have to trade Zion Williamson if they truly believed they could build a winner with him at the helm. But when you’re in a lost season like the Pelicans are, you have to make some form of change and shake things up. Players like Herb Jones were among the most sought-after pieces. And the Pelicans could have created a bidding war out of that, but they didn’t.
They removed Jordan Poole from their rotation with the plan that he would be traded, and guess what, he’s still in New Orleans.
While I wasn’t a fan of the rumor, they could’ve traded Yves Missi after going through a month straight of reports that they were shopping him. Or even though fans may not like it, with Trey Murphy III scoring a career-high 44 points and hitting a franchise-record 12 three-pointers Wednesday night, his value may never have been higher. And trading him could’ve given the front office a ton of assets to fill out a retooled roster.
The Pelicans deadline was just all talk and no action. Standing still is a decision, and for the Pelicans, it’s a familiar one. Year after year, the organization has chosen comfort in purgatory over change.