The New Orleans Pelicans are expected to be heavily active at this 2024-25 NBA season's trade deadline. After they lost their season to injuries, the Pelicans reportedly listed nearly their entire roster for sale, outside of a few young prospects that they've chosen to continue to build around. Namely, they've marked Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, Yves Missi, and Jordan Hawkins as untouchable assets, at least for this trade season. Zion Williamson's future with the team is still up in the air, but recent events have suggested that he's here to stay, at least for a little while longer.
That still leaves the Pelicans with plenty of players they can and should trade though. I'll also remove Antonio Reeves from consideration since he's a rookie who probably won't hold any value in potential deals, although he could be included in a swap as a sweetener. That still leaves New Orleans with eight tradable players: Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum, Dejounte Murray, Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Daniel Theis, Javonte Green, Jose Alvarado, and Karlo Matkovic.
The Pelicans probably won't be able to trade away all of those players. We're not even sure if they want to move all of them, as it appears that the franchise is still enamored with their new star point guard in Dejounte and his recent play should only encourage them to keep him around. For a while, it looked like New Orleans would be desperate sellers with little interest around the league in what they were offering. Now halfway through the season, a few teams have found some surprising success which could turn them into unexpected buyers at this year's trade deadline.
The Pelicans could find trade partners with these unexpectedly competitive teams
1. Detroit Pistons
The Detroit Pistons have emerged as serious playoff threats after replacing former Head Coach Monty Williams with J. B. Bickerstaff and getting an All-Star performance from franchise cornerstone Cade Cunningham in the first half of the season. Reportedly, their ownership group and front office wants to see this squad make the postseason after a five-year playoff drought.
The Pistons unfortunately lost rising star guard Jaden Ivey to injury, which makes them prime candidates to trade for CJ McCollum. They shouldn't limit themselves to just one Pelicans player though. Detroit would be a tremendous fit for several different New Orleans veterans that could help them lead a return back to the playoffs and maybe even make some noise once they're there.
2. Miami Heat
The Miami Heat appear to be sellers at this season's trade deadline. At least, they seem to be selling one of their key pieces in star wing Jimmy Butler, who has demanded a trade off of the team. There's been some mixed messages coming out of Miami, but all of the latest hubbub has Butler taking his talents out of South Beach before the deadline.
But, that doesn't mean that Miami can't be buyers too. The Heat don't have any intention of trading Bam Adebayo or Tyler Herro, both of which are All-Star-caliber talents over the age of 25, which means they'll be looking to compete even after trading Butler. Due to Jimmy's theatrics, age, and contract, the Heat won't be getting back a typical star package, so they'll need a few other moves to ensure that their team can still compete once he's gone.
They could use another ball-handler and shot-creator like CJ McCollum or a playmaking and scoring wing to replace Jimmy like Brandon Ingram.
3. Sacramento Kings
For a minute there, it looked like the Sacramento Kings looked pretty similar to the Pelicans: two teams with win-now, top-heavy rosters who were suddenly yanked out of the playoff picture and forced to find a new direction. However, Sac-Town's troubles weren't as unsolvable as New Orleans's injuries and the new direction they chose in firing Head Coach Mike Brown and replacing him with interim Doug Christie has paid off massively.
They've gone 10-2 since Christie took over the reins and have re-inserted themselves right back into the playoff picture in the Western Conference. Still, their early season troubles showed that this roster isn't on the same level as the likes of the Oklahoma City Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Boston Celtics. They'll need some additional talent to drag them over the hump, and the Pelicans might just have the perfect pieces to turn the Kings from pretenders into legitimate contenders.