The New Orleans Pelicans have stayed afloat in the Western Conference landscape despite Zion Williamson having not played in a single game so far during the 2021-22 NBA season.
After beginning the season with an 3-16 record, the Pelicans have since gone 15-14 and are genuinely in the mix to contend for the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. If there’s genuinely optimism about Williamson making a return to the lineup this season, they are trending upward at the right time.
According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, two of the NBA’s most active teams in trade talks around the league as the trade deadline approaches include the Portland Trail Blazers and New Orleans Pelicans.
At this stage of the NBA’s midseason trade window, the Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers, Sacramento Kings and New Orleans Pelicans are considered to be the most active teams in trade conversations ahead of the Feb. 10 deadline, according to league sources.
With the continued emergence of young guard Anfernee Simons for the Trail Blazers, it appears as though CJ McCollum is all the more expendable as the trade deadline approaches.
Over his last 14 performances, Simons is averaging a staggering 24.4 points, 2.7 rebounds and 7.1 assists while shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc on 10.4 attempts per game.
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In terms of a potential CJ McCollum trade, Fischer reported the ‘most often linked’ trade destination for the veteran guard has been the New Orleans Pelicans. A potential trade framework could include Jonas Valanciunas and Josh Hart in a potential trade—offering a center replacement for Jusuf Nurkic and wing contributor.
The destination most often linked to McCollum has been New Orleans, who could sensibly deal Jonas Valanciunas and Josh Hart. That would give the Blazers a center replacement for Nurkic, a strong veteran contributor in Hart and sneak Portland under the tax. It would seem the Pelicans would be more willing to part with Tomas Satoranksy and Jaxson Hayes over Valanciunas, however.
Perhaps a key stipulation in a possible CJ McCollum trade for the Trail Blazers involving the Pelicans is the potential impact it could have on their pursuit of the final play-in spot in the Western Conference. The Pelicans find themselves trailing the Portland Trail Blazers by 2.5 games with the San Antonio Spurs still very much in the mix, too.
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From a long-term perspective, it would be an intriguing outcome for the New Orleans Pelicans to have a shot creation threat and playmaker of the caliber of CJ McCollum to pair with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram.
The two-man game in ball screens and handoffs would be a supercharged version of what Zion Williamson experienced with his short stint with JJ Redick. Overall, it would add key dimensions of half-court offense that make things easier for the already dominant interior scorer.
