[The following submission is from the New Orleans Pelicans, run by students in the mock deadline practicum at the SBC Las Vegas Immersive.]

Assignment: New Orleans Pelicans

Team Members: Sean Leftwich, Fredderick Nettles, Jeffrey Hueckel, Mariya Williams, Robert Royer, Taneé Denson

Coming away from the 2021-22 season, where we made the playoffs and played the top-seeded Phoenix Suns to the wire, we felt incredibly confident about our young core heading into the coming campaign.

Our primary goal at the deadline was to add to our core (Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, and Herb Jones) while shedding salary without giving up too many assets.  

 

With Williamson back from injury, we hope to jump from a scrappy underdog to a legitimate threat in the Western Conference. Williamson is a blooming superstar, a legitimate passer and even has touch as a three-point shooter. We believed the best way to utilize his abilities was to space the floor with shooters around him.

Last year, the Pelicans were 27th in three-point percentage. To fix that, we brought in Kevin Huerter from the Sacramento Kings. We think Huerter is a promising young talent who can score on and off the ball and fit right into our offense.  

We decided to shop Devonte’ Graham and Garrett Temple. With the emergence of Jose Alvarado, Graham struggled to find a role. We have to give up our 2023 Los Angeles Lakers pick swap to make the trade, but we were comfortable seeing what the [mock] Lakers had achieved ahead of the deadline would make the pick less valuable. 

Trade: 

  • New Orleans received Kevin Huerter.
  • Sacramento received Devonte’ Graham, Garrett Temple, the higher 2023 first-rounder from the Los Angeles Lakers and Pelicans and a 2024 Chicago Bulls second-rounder.

– Sean Leftwich