This trade should haunt David Griffin and the New Orleans Pelicans

Cliches become cliches for a reason, and the old adage "hindsight is 20/20" gets vindicated over and over every year. Being an NBA general manager might sound like a dream job, but it's not an easy one: just ask David Griffin, Vice President and primary decision-maker for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Griffin made waves this past summer when he traded for All-Star point guard Dejounte Murray, in a move that he thought might help take the Pelicans over the hump from a burgeoning playoff team to a legitimate title contender. Fast forward six months later and Griffin is now tasked with tearing down the roster that he's meticulously crafted over the past half-decade and leading the Pelicans into their next era.

With the franchise's title playoff aspirations lying shattered on his desk, every move from Griffin now could go on to be his last as vice president of the Pelicans. In times like these, it's hard not to look back and question every decision he's made in retrospect. While it's easy to find a nitpick with every single choice he's made at the helm so far, one trade in particular stands out as a possible catalyst for the damning of the Zion Williamson era with the New Orleans Pelicans.

The Zion Williamson experience in New Orleans was doomed from the beginning

2019 was the start of this current era of the New Orleans Pelicans. That year saw the team trade away its former franchise cornerstone in Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and the fourth-overall pick in the upcoming 2019 NBA Draft.

Months earlier, New Orleans had drawn the number one overall pick in the draft — which at the time almost felt like a karmic consolation prize for the team and its fans in return for dealing with AD's very public trade demand and Klutch Sports's antics to get him to the Lakers alongside LeBron James.

One month before that, the Pelicans had hired David Griffin to become their Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, which is a very fancy title that essentially means he's in charge of all roster and personnel decisions for the team. He'd been hired to a very tough position, one that required the overseeing of Anthony Davis's eventual trade.

To his credit, Griffin got back a fair package in return for AD. Ingram and Ball were highly regarded former top picks who had flashed star potential in their young careers. Josh Hart had already established himself as a tough-nosed defender and jack-of-all-trades supporting piece. Grabbing the fourth-overall selection to pair with the first pick brought a sense of excitement to New Orleans that even topped the summer they drafted Davis.

Getting another top-five pick to pair with Zion Williamson was commendable work that should have given the Pelicans a great chance at a quick rebuild centered around two blue-chip prospects growing alongside one another. But Griffin wasn't happy to rest on his laurels. He wanted more.

He'd go on to send the fourth pick to the Atlanta Hawks along with Solomon Hill, the 57th pick, and a future second-round pick in return for the eighth pick, the 17th pick, the 35th pick, and a protected 2020 first-rounder. The Hawks would go on to draft De'Andre Hunter at four, while the Pelicans came away with Jaxson Hayes (8), Nickeil Alexander-Walker (17), and Marcos Louzada Silva (35).

De'Andre Hunter may not have changed the fortunes of the Pelicans in these past few years, but Darius Garland, who was selected by the Cleveland Cavaliers just one pick later, might have. Griffin could have built a core featuring Zion, Garland, Ingram, Lonzo, Hart, and Jrue Holiday, but instead chose to trade the pick for what he felt like were better assets.

Today, Darius Garland is averaging 21.0 points and 6.7 assists while shooting 50/42/90 for the 34-6 East-leading Cavaliers. Meanwhile, neither Jaxson Hayes nor Nickeil Alexander-Walker are still on the Pelicans. Hayes is an underwhelming backup big for the Lakers while NAW turned out to be a pretty feisty defensive reserve for the Minnesota Timberwolves, although the latter didn't show any signs of life until he was traded away from New Orleans.

It's hard not to wonder how much Garland could have helped this team, considering the Pelicans have needed a true point guard capable of catching fire from deep practically the entire time they've had Zion. Hindsight is 20/20, but it definitely seems like David Griffin was flying a little too close to the sun when he dealt away his 2019 fourth-overall pick. We'll see if it ultimately leads to Zion Williamson's departure from the Pelicans.