NBA Trade Rumors: New Orleans Pelicans looking to offload out of favor guard
New Orleans Pelicans guard Devonte' Graham could soon be on the trade market. The team has been exploring trades for Graham, who started 63 games last season, according to Christian Clark of NOLA.com.
The midseason acquisition of CJ McCollum forced Graham to the bench. According to Clark, New Orleans is unsure of having the undersized duo of Graham and Jose Alvardo share the floor in the second unit.
Graham averaged 11.9 points per game and 4.2 assists per game on 36.3/34.1/84.3 shooting splits over 28.4 minutes per game in the regular season. Despite playing key minutes throughout the regular season, Graham only played 10 minutes per game in the postseason, which was only the ninth-most on the team.
Getting Zion Williamson back further complicates things for Graham. There will be fewer touches to go around and fewer minutes available. With Graham already nearly out of the rotation in the postseason, getting Williamson back as well as drafting guard Dyson Daniels may make it hard for him to see the floor.
Report: New Orleans Pelicans have explored Devonte’ Graham trades ahnfiredigital.com/nba/new-orlean…
Unfortunately for the Pelicans, it may be hard to find a team that is interested in Devonte' Graham. Despite being a solid three-point shooter, he is undersized as a defender and, more importantly, is owed $36 million over the next three years.
While that contract isn't entirely unmoveable, the Pelicans may need to attach assets in order to get teams interested. At this stage of the offseason, they would be better off hanging on to Graham than moving assets for cap space they won't be able to use.
Should the New Orleans Pelicans go all-in on Kevin Durant?
Kevin Durant has remained on the market since requesting a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. The New Orleans Pelicans could make an offer that the Nets have a hard time turning down.
They could theoretically build a package around All-Star Brandon Ingram, draft picks, and other young players. The Pelicans still possess a lot of draft capital due to trades with the Los Angeles Lakers and Milwaukee Bucks for Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, respectively.
As things stand, they seem reluctant to move on from Ingram, who has drawn many comparisons to Durant. Although Durant is a generational talent, Ingram matches Zion Williamson's timeline better.
Keeping the two All-Stars together could give New Orleans a formidable duo for the next decade. Ingram's postseason performance showed that he could be on the cusp of superstardom.
Brandon Ingram in the 2022 playoffs:
27.0 PPG
6.2 RPG
6.2 APG
48/41/83%
Small sample size but only 3 other players in NBA history average 27/6/6 or better in the postseason. https://t.co/lLkhbhmi16
Adding a talent like Williamson will open up the floor even more for Ingram and his production could continue to increase. At 24 years old, he is just scratching the surface of his potential.