The New Orleans Pelicans pulled a major move ahead of this trade deadline, getting CJ McCollum from the Portland Trail Blazers. Common sense says the Pelicans want to pair him up with Brandon Ingram and their biggest young star, Zion Williamson.
However, Williamson has not featured yet in the Pelicans jersey this season. His injuries and general mystery surrounding his overall situation, highlighted by reports last summer about his family being unhappy in New Orleans, are worrying signs. Thus, with those worrying signs amplified recently, here are two reasons why the Pelicans must bite the bullet and trade Zion Williamson this offseason.
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Reasons for Pelicans to trade Zion WilliamsonÂ
The extended drama will reduce his trade potentialÂ
In a vacuum, the Pelicans should never even touch the idea of trading Zion Williamson. Even through his injuries and weight issues, he is an absolute stud. He averaged 27.0 points, 7.2 boards, and 3.7 assists on 61.1% shooting from the field in the 2020-21 season, his only relatively full season playing for the Pelicans. Yet, this is not a vacuum and virtually all outside circumstances suggest that a trade is not only an option but the preferred action that needs to be taken by David Griffin.
The first reason for it is fairly obvious: as this drags on, the trade value of the Pelicans youngster will just fall down. Due to the injuries already suffered in his past few seasons, plus the well-documented weight issues, it is difficult to gauge what the Pelicans could even get for him. He is a great player, but reliability is a huge thing in the NBA. If he cannot be available for 60 games in a season, spending any assortment of resources to get him would be a risky move. If this drama continues, it could be even tougher.
In recent days, there were new developments that might further impact the Pelicans' decision on either keeping him or trading him. JJ Redick shared his thoughts on Williamson not even texting CJ McCollum to welcome him to the team. His words sent waves across the NBA community, and they hold special strength considering he was a part of the Pelicans and a former teammate of Williamson. This was paired up with the fact that Williamson is not mentioned in the Pelicans' email to season ticket holders, per a recent report. While the latest report states Zion has finally reached out to McCollum, this is all still problematic.
All of this basically means that the Pelicans are rapidly losing leverage. In trades, leverage is absolutely everything. If the team is pressed, for whatever reason, to make a trade, it might end up hurting them in discussions. For instance, the Oklahoma City Thunder were basically forced to trade James Harden in 2012, and for a future MVP, the Thunder really did not get too much. The situation is obviously different, as Zion's one full season for the Pelicans was better than any Harden had in Oklahoma City. Still, it reigns true that as the Thunder lost leverage in the Harden trade, the Pelicans are in danger of losing it if the drama around Williamson extends past this season.
He will negatively impact the team that really does not need more trouble
The Pelicans generally do not need any more negativity around their team. After pulling off two moves in the offseason (Jonas Valanciunas, Devonte' Graham) that were supposed to make them a playoff team, the Pelicans are sitting at 23-36 and 12th in the Western Conference. Getting McCollum helps, but even if they play the rest of the season perfectly, they will still struggle to even make the postseason.
If Williamson sticks around after this summer, the uncertainty of his future and general negativity around the squad will just make things worse for the franchise. In the greater context, it makes the situation even worse for the Pelicans, a franchise infamous for the drama and general lack of success around it. We all remember the entire situation around Anthony Davis and how the Pelicans basically wasted the first seven years of his career with poor management and just one playoff appearance. They will really want to avoid the same situation with Zion, but all signs point to an even uglier divorce with their new young star.
As said above, the Pelicans are notorious for their poor management. While David Griffin is making some good moves, the franchise is still almost cursed to have this kind of drama happening ever so often. If they want to avoid the endless rumors and cut their losses, even if it means that they will make their duo of McCollum and Brandon Ingram wait for playoff basketball for some time, they will just trade Zion Williamson this summer and wash their hands of this entire situation.
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