3. New Orleans Pelicans
The New Orleans Pelicans suddenly find themselves near the forefront of the 2023 NBA title chase. After making a midseason trade last year to acquire CJ McCollum and Larry Nance Jr., the Pellies have stumbled into one of the greatest collections of talent in the entire league.
Not only did that trade prove to be a massive win for the Pelicans, three of their rookie acquisitions also turned into key contributors in Trey Murphy III, Jose Alvarado, and Herb Jones. Now, with All-NBA forward Zion Williamson expected to join the mix for the upcoming season, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Pelicans become one of the most fearsome teams in the league.
Pelicans GM David Griffin likely knows that he needs to capitalize now while all of his pieces are aligned perfectly, with CJ still in his prime, Zion coming back healthy, and Murphy, Alvarado, and Jones all still on rookie-scale deals.
He can take a step further in that regard by trading for Doug McDermott and adding another shooter to space the floor for CJ, Brandon Ingram, and Zion.
LATEST NBA NEWS AND TRADE RUMORS: 2 Trade Package To Send Doug McDermott To Los Angeles Lakers
On top of their overwhelming talent, the New Orleans Pelicans are also equipped with one of the deepest caches of future draft picks in the league. They could use one of the future selections they own to land some more assistance for their title push.
