New Orleans Pelicans Receive: G Goran Dragic, F Chris Boucher
Toronto Raptors Receive: G Tomas Satoransky, C Jaxson Hayes, F Naji Marshall, CLE 2022 2nd Round Pick (via NOP), NOP 2022 2nd Round Pick, NOP 2025 1st Round Pick (Unprotected)
The New Orleans Pelicans have not started the season the way they had liked and Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin is not afraid of making some big moves. This offseason, New Orleans lost Lonzo Ball and traded away Steven Adams, but they added Devonte’ Graham and Jonas Valanciunas, as well as rookie wing Trey Murphy III.
With a roster that looks like it is ready to compete at a high level right now, that is when Zion and Ingram return to the court from injuries, Griffin should be motivated to be a “buyer” at the trade deadline or beforehand this season.
Adding Goran Dragic and Chris Boucher would certainly be two big additions to this Pelicans’ roster that address key needs that this team has right now.
Goran Dragic is now 35-years-old and nearing the end of his career, but he can still be an effective point guard in any rotation. He helped the Heat make the NBA Finals in 2020 and has averaged 14.6 points per game over the last three seasons.
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Having just Devonte’ Graham and second-year guard Kira Lewis Jr. in their backcourt, the New Orleans Pelicans could definitely benefit from adding a key offensive player like Dragic to their rotations, especially at the expense of another veteran who has not played much for them in Tomas Satoransky.
As for Chris Boucher, he is a lengthy big man who came on late in the year for the Raptors. Due to a numerous amount of injuries, Boucher was thrown in and out of the starting rotation in Toronto and played really well last season, averaging 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and shooting 51.4% from the floor, 38.3% from three-point range.
So why would the Toronto Raptors want to trade him? Not only is Boucher in the final year of his contract and set to make $7M, but he is going to be turning 29-years-old this season and is not someone the Raptors will likely want to invest a fair amount of money into.
Chris Boucher’s minutes have been cut down this season because of the logjam the Raptors have in their frontcourt. Khem Birch, Precious Achiuwa, Scottie Barnes, Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby are all under contract past this season, which is why Boucher has become the “odd-man-out” in their rotations.
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If Toronto is going to be moving both Dragic and Boucher, then they will need to be receiving a handful of future assets. Tomas Satorasky is by no means a future asset, but he is in the final year of his contract, so the Raptors would be able to free up some cap space from his contract heading into next season.
As for Marshall and Hayes, both guys are relatively young players who could fit into a defensive-minded system in Toronto. They do have a lot of players in their frontcourt already, but Jaxson Hayes is an athletic big man with a lot of potential to still grow on both ends of the floor.
Getting two young talents, some cap relief in Satoransky, and some draft compensation for Dragic and Boucher definitely seems like a fair trade-off for the Toronto Raptors and Pelicans, but is this a trade we should look more into as the season progresses?
