The New Orleans Pelicans seem to be ready to blow it up. Jovan Buha of The Athletic is reporting that the Pelicans are shopping Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum to teams in the NBA. It appears that the three stars are being leveraged for the best offers possible so that the Pelicans can enter into a proper rebuild and start fresh.
“Based on the reporting intel, Trey Murphy and Herb Jones are at a certain level for them. They want to keep them. Those are two guys that are going to have a high price to give up, similar to L.A. with Austin Reaves. Seems like Zion, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum are the three guys they’ve been shopping more in terms of their core starters, and Dejounte Murray has not.”
All three players have been underwhelming to start the season. Zion Williamson has played in just six games and averaged 22.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 0.7 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.7% from the field, 33.3% from range, and 66.7% from the free-throw line.
Things have gotten so bad that even NBA announcers are mocking his unavailability. Zion signed a five-year, $197 million contract extension that kicked in last year. Any team that trades for him has to take a massive gamble, as he has shown so far that he isn’t worth that money.
Zion Williamson has been one of the biggest disappointments in recent NBA history. Williamson came into the NBA as the unanimous first-overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, with many expecting him to become the next face of the NBA.
Instead, he has been unavailable due to injury for most of his career and hasn’t lived up to expectations. His trade value has gone down drastically in the last few months.
We tried to map out every NBA team’s best offers for Zion Williamson, and the truth is that at this point in his career, no team in the NBA would have to give up a lot to bring the former Duke standout to their team. It is sad to see what has become of one of the most exciting NBA prospects in recent memory.
As for Brandon Ingram, the former Lakers star has been frustrated with his situation. And it is reflected in his performances, as he averages 22.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field, 37.4% from the three-point line, and 85.5% from the free-throw line.
Ingram is in the final year of his contract and makes $36 million this season. A team could trade for him and then try to negotiate a smaller contract with him in free agency.
CJ McCollum has declined drastically since the Pelicans traded for him in 2022, averaging 20.6 points, 4.2 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks this season, while shooting 43.0% from the field, 32.1% from beyond the arc, and 69.2% from the free-throw line.
McCollum signed a two-year, $64 million contract extension with the Pelicans this year. But now at 33 years of age, he is not playing up to the value of that deal.
The Pelicans will have to be ready to accept less-than-ideal offers for the three stars, as all of them are not playing at the highest level.
We here at Fadeaway World mapped out what a Pelicans’ fire sale could look like, which you can check out here. It appears only three players on the Pelicans roster are untouchable, with every other player they have available for the right price. Things might look very different for the Pelicans in the months to come.
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