The New Orleans Pelicans have a ton of flaws this season, which is why they are 20-43 and sit 13th in the Western Conference. The Achilles heel for this group all season has been their lack of three-point shooting, as the Pelicans are bottom-five in three's made, attempted, and overall three-point percentage. When you have a core built around Zion Williamson and now Derik Queen, this lack of floor spacing is going to cause obvious problems, but thankfully, an ideal trade candidate is emerging.
Cameron Johnson has had a season full of ups and downs for the Denver Nuggets after they gave up Michael Porter Jr. and a future first-round pick for the veteran shooter during the 2025 offseason. With MPJ playing at an All-Star level this season, averaging 24.5 points and shooting 37.5 percent from three, it appears the Nuggets may have made a mistake.
With Johnson shooting just 33 percent from three since February 7th, the Nuggets could look to pivot as he enters the last year of his contract this summer. Giving the Pelicans a perfect chance to acquire a proven floor spacer.
Trading for Johnson would mean parting with a fan favorite
Obviously, it's fair to assume, with Johnson being a career 39.3 percent three-point shooter, his poor shooting lately is just due to a slump. But Denver also has bigger problems than floor spacing, as they aren't a championship-level defense at this point.
This is why a trade with New Orleans makes sense, because the Pelicans could offer Herb Jones and Jordan Hawkins in a two-for-one swap for Johnson. Although Jones has dealt with his share of injuries over the past two seasons, he remains an elite-level defender, and contending teams still view him as very valuable.
For a team like Denver, which has the league's ninth-worst defensive rating, the swap of Jones for Johnson could help uplift their play on that end by a massive margin. We saw on Friday against the Oklahoma City Thunder that they are in dire need of a true point-of-attack defender.
To put Jones’ defensive impact in perspective, over the past three seasons the Pelicans’ defensive rating worsens by 4.1 points when he’s off the floor, according to Databallr. That type of defensive swing would be immensely valuable for a Denver team that is struggling to defend at a championship level. If Denver were to experience a similar impact, their 115.9 defensive rating would improve to a mark that would rank around seventh in the NBA this season.
Moving on from Jones would be a huge hit to the Pelicans defensively, as they already have a bottom-five defense. However, their lack of shooting is a bigger concern as it's simply taken them out of games this season. These are struggles Jones isn't positively contributing to either, as he's shot _ percent from three this season.
For both sides, a swap this summer makes sense. For the Pelicans, adding a 6-foot-8 sniper who has built a reputation as one of the league's best shooters would address a massive need. For the Nuggets, getting a true point-of-attack defender who has been a capable floor spacer at times in his career would be very valuable.