New Orleans Pelicans
This offseason, the New Orleans Pelicans really made it a priority to go out and get both Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson some more help so they can make a real playoff run. Letting Lonzo Ball, Eric Bledsoe and Steven Adams go freed up a lot of salary space and the Pelicans were able to turn these three guys into Jonas Valanciunas, Devonte’ Graham, Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple and rookie Trey Murphy III.
At this point, the Pelicans roster is pretty much “set-in-stone,” but at some point during the 2021-22 season, they could look to add another key talent on the offensive-end of the court to beef up their overall roster in hopes to make a playoff run.
Since joining the Timberwolves during the 2019-20 season, Malik Beasley has played in just 51 games with Minnesota, but he has averaged an impressive 19.9 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists and has shot 40.6% from three-point range.
The Pelicans ranked 9th in the league in scoring last season, but they ranked just 26th in the league in three-point shooting. The additions of Graham and Murphy are going to help New Orleans on the perimeter, but bringing in Malik Beasley could be that final move they need to make in order to solidify their playoff spot.
READ MORE: Predictions for Latest NBA Trade Rumors: Simmons, Siakam, Dragic, Lillard
With a $17M traded player exception from giving up Steven Adams in the offseason, the Pelicans have an easy means of absorbing Beasley’s contract and they may not have to give up much to get him. They could possibly give up Kira Lewis Jr. or Naji Marshall, plus one or two of their handful of draft picks they have from trading away Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday in the past.
The options for acquiring Malik Beasley are vast for the New Orleans Pelicans and seeing as they are a young team on the rise that is looking to make noise in the Western Conference during the 2021-22 season, they could be willing to part ways with some assets to get a “win-now” type of player like Beasley.
