What they're missing: healthy players
Of the Pelicans' top six players coming into the season, only Brandon Ingram has played more than six of their first 11 games. At times, he has been the only healthy member of that group. Trey Murphy III made his season debut Monday after a preseason hamstring strain, Dejounte Murray was lost to a broken hand in the season opener that required surgery, and long-term injuries to Herb Jones and CJ McCollum followed. On Saturday, Zion Williamson was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
Add guards Jordan Hawkins (back strain) and Jose Alvarado (hamstring strain) to the injured list, and coach Willie Green has been forced deep into his bench on the perimeter.
Even if New Orleans returns to full strength, center depth will remain a question mark. First-round pick Yves Missi supplanted journeyman Daniel Theis as the starter to begin November, but neither player is shooting even 46% from the field, problematic at a spot where the average player shoots 54%. It's possible Williamson could fill that void as an undersized 5, but the Pelicans didn't have enough perimeter depth to try those lineups for extended minutes before he went down. — Pelton
What they can pull off
Among all the teams on this list, New Orleans has the most flexibility to pull off a trade. The Pelicans control their own first in the next seven years and could add to their collection if Milwaukee's pick falls in the top four in 2025 or 2027. New Orleans can also swap firsts with the Bucks in 2026.
From a roster standpoint, every player is trade eligible except for Javonte Green, Daniel Theis and Jaylen Nowell. Trey Murphy III signed a rookie extension in October, but an included poison pill restriction means the extension has yet to go into effect, making his contract difficult to move.
New Orleans is $2.4 million below the first apron and cannot exceed the threshold in a trade. However, with injuries mounting, should the Pelicans be in a holding pattern until this roster gets healthy? Or should they start to make calls? Brandon Ingram is in the last year of his contract and can become a free agent if no extension is reached prior to June 30.
New Orleans is $3.5 million above the luxury tax but is expected to drop below the threshold ahead of the trade deadline to avoid paying the penalty for the first time in franchise history. It has the partially guaranteed contract of Jaylen Nowell, as well as three contracts worth $2.1 million each (Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Daniel Theis, Javonte Green).
New Orleans would drop below the tax if one of those three players is traded and Nowell is waived prior to the Jan. 7 guaranteed date. The Pelicans also have three second-round picks and $7.2 million in cash that they can include any deals. — Marks
What's next for New Orleans?
Difficult decisions await the Pelicans, but history indicates they might stand pat and ride out their rash of injuries. New Orleans is one of two teams that has never paid the luxury tax. That's not expected to change, as the franchise is expected to waive Nowell as injured players start to return to avoid the tax, in addition to dumping a minimum contract at the deadline. — Michael C. Wright
3 comments
We have assets to pull off a trade but the big questions is what type of trade do we look for. Going into next season we have $157M in salaries. The salary cap should go up 10% giving a new cap of $154M and a tax line of 187M with the first apron at 196M. This is with 10 players under contract. This looks fine until you realize it does not include BI. BI is looking for a max starting in year one of around $42M which would put us at $199M still needing to sign our FRP and 2 more players.
The reality is we need to move one of CJ, BI, Zion and bring back not just talent but around $16M+ in expiring contracts. This would allow us room for o at least stay under the first tax tier next season.
Well what will we do if come January and we haven’t broken digit wins and we’re still an injured team? Should we just start the process? I don’t follow the potential lottery picks but I believe the top 3 projected are pretty good next year.
Lets trade BI now before he also gets injuried for a decent center or some decent draft capital and some young prospects and we tank this year and hope for the best in the draft. We build up a team around D Murray, Herb, TM3, maybe Hawkins, maybe trade Zion since he cant stay healthy, trade CJ when possible.