At the time of writing, the Pelicans are less than 12 hours away from taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder in a pivotal game two in their first round playoff series. New Orleans fought valiantly in their game one loss, and a win in game two would extend the series and crack open the door for a potential Zion Williamson return the slightest bit further.
Tonight's game isn't do-or-die. The old adage "a playoff series doesn't start until the road team wins a game" still applies, and New Orleans would love for the series to officially begin tonight. However, a loss will not doom them as they'll have two chances at The Blender to even up the series and set up a knight in shining armor scenario for Zion.
With that said, it's never too early to start discussing potential off-season movement. The Pelicans played like a top ten team in the Association at times this year, but odds are they're going to come up short of their ultimate goal of winning an NBA championship in 2024. Change will come if New Orleans doesn't make a deep run this postseason. Missing Zion for this first round series was unanticipated, but goals are goals and it is unlikely that the Pelicans reach the ones they set.
The team that takes the floor in October will look vastly different than the one playing this month, and Bleacher Report dropped two mock trades that will shake up the Pelicans current and future rosters. Let's take a look.