There's an argument to be made that the New Orleans Pelicans have as bright a long-term future as any team in the NBA. Just because his team figures to be at its utmost best during the prime of surefire No. 1 overall draft pick Zion Williamson, though, doesn't mean Pelicans president of basketball operations David Griffin is punting on the more immediate future.
According to The Athletic's Shams Charania, the Pelicans are believed to be targeting Washington Wizards All-Star Bradley Beal with the No. 4 overall pick of this year's draft, which they will acquire from the Los Angeles Lakers upon official completion of the blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis.
Griffin has been open to moving the No. 4 overall pick, and one player league executives believe the Pelicans are monitoring in a potential trade is Washington Wizards All-Star Bradley Beal, sources said. But Wizards interim president Tommy Sheppard is running the Washington front office as of now, and the franchise has been adamant for months that it hopes to build around Beal.
Beal won’t become a free agent until the summer of 2021, but given the Wizards’ clotted cap sheet and lack of young talent on the roster, it’s broadly expected he prefers to continue his career elsewhere rather than waste precious years of his prime playing for a team without realistic hopes of contention. He’s yet to come close to requesting a trade, though, and reporting dating back months suggests Washington hopes to hold onto him for as long as possible.
The Pelicans, meanwhile, are at the earliest stages of building around a core of Williamson, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram, and Lonzo Ball, with a treasure trove of future draft assets at their disposal, too.
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