Pelicans Acquire Jonas Valanciunas for Adams, Bledsoe, picks

[Rondo9]

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1419756065625972747

They also save some cap space perhaps to re-sign Lonzo?

[Roy H.]

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1419756065625972747

They also save some cap space perhaps to re-sign Lonzo?

They're rumored to be after Kyle Lowry.

Good trade for them, though.  They upgrade at center and save a ton of money by moving back seven slots and giving up a likely non-lottery pick.

And, let me be the first to wonder:  could we have gotten Memphis to trade us JV if we'd packaged Kemba and a #1?  Probably not, but I'm curious if anything like that was explored.

[Vermont Green]

How does that work for salary?  Bledsoe ($18M), Adams ($17M) for Valanciunas at only $14M? 

Major salary dump for New Orleans if this is accurate.  Valanciunas is not a bad fit with Zion, Ingram, Ball.

[Jvalin]

Valanciunas is not a bad fit with Zion, Ingram, Ball.

Imo, he's a bad fit. Both Zion and Valanciunas score the majority of their points in the paint. If I were the Pels, I would have been looking to surround Zion with shooters.

[Wretch]

Memphis might have more trades in the works. They already have a lot of depth (14 players under contract before the trade) and just added 2 more (overpaid) starters.

I wonder if Winslow is out?

[RJ87]

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1419756065625972747

They also save some cap space perhaps to re-sign Lonzo?

They're rumored to be after Kyle Lowry.

Good trade for them, though.  They upgrade at center and save a ton of money by moving back seven slots and giving up a likely non-lottery pick.

And, let me be the first to wonder:  could we have gotten Memphis to trade us JV if we'd packaged Kemba and a #1?  Probably not, but I'm curious if anything like that was explored.

Maybe, but Memphis would've had to give up another player to make the money work. JV is only making $14m this year.

Also, Bledsoe can theoretically play next to Ja - he's only a year removed from being an All-Defensive selection. Kemba and Ja in the backcourt together doesn't exactly inspire confidence if the goal is the playoffs.

[Roy H.]

How does that work for salary?  Bledsoe ($18M), Adams ($17M) for Valanciunas at only $14M? 

Major salary dump for New Orleans if this is accurate.  Valanciunas is not a bad fit with Zion, Ingram, Ball.

They'll wait until the new league year to complete the trade.  Memphis will have around $20 million or so in cap space.

Memphis would've had to give up another player to make the money work. JV is only making $14m this year.

No, they could have just done the same thing that's being done in this trade:  wait until the new league year.  Adams + Bledsoe makes about the same as Kemba.

[RJ87]

I wonder if Winslow is out?

I'd be surprised if they picked up his option. He's not worth $13m at this point.

[Atzar]

I kinda hate that deal for Memphis… though it depends on what they do with that #10 pick.  They give up the best player in the deal (JV was quietly their best player for much of last season) and also take on a significant chunk of salary for two seasons. 

Really like it for NOP though.

[Donoghus]

Memphis might have more trades in the works. They already have a lot of depth (14 players under contract before the trade) and just added 2 more (overpaid) starters.

I wonder if Winslow is out?

Yeah, the stuff I'm seeing on Twitter is that they'll decline his team option

[liam]

I kinda hate that deal for Memphis… though it depends on what they do with that #10 pick.  They give up the best player in the deal (JV was quietly their best player for much of last season) and also take on a significant chunk of salary for two seasons. 

Really like it for NOP though.

Yeah, it's a strange trade for Memphis.

[Vermont Green]

They'll wait until the new league year to complete the trade.  Memphis will have around $20 million or so in cap space.

I guess if they renounce the $13M team option on Justice Winslow.  NOP I suppose could have gotten Winslow if they wanted him.  Winslow is decent player to be cut loose.  If in fact he is cut loose, he would be a good pick up for teams like Lakers, Sixers, Bucks at MLE or less (not at $13M though of course).

[Goldstar88]

Valanciunas is not a bad fit with Zion, Ingram, Ball.

Imo, he's a bad fit. Both Zion and Valanciunas score the majority of their points in the paint. If I were the Pels, I would have been looking to surround Zion with shooters.

I’d rather have Valanciunas over Adams, though. Much better offensive player with career  FG%56, FT%78 and 3PT%36. Adams can’t shoot at all. Bad from the FT line too.

[gouki88]

Weird trade for Memphis.

JV will have the same crowding issue with Zion that Adams did. JV is better though, and the salary dump is wise

[Ed Monix]

I kinda hate that deal for Memphis… though it depends on what they do with that #10 pick.  They give up the best player in the deal (JV was quietly their best player for much of last season) and also take on a significant chunk of salary for two seasons. 

Really like it for NOP though.

Yeah, it's a strange trade for Memphis.

Apparently they are targeting Josh Giddey (Celtics should have been too).

It is a great trade for Memphis and demonstrations that their front office has become the new Spurs, in working between the lines as a elite small market franchise.

The Grizzlies get the 10th pick and a 22 Lakers pick that could actually been great depending on Davis & James’ health.

Valanciunas didn’t fit their timeline anyway and would most likely have left at the end of his contract. Adams is a great culture guy and will look better defensively next to Jackson Jr. instead of Zion. Bledsoe on his day can be a borderline two way talent and he only has two years remaining on his deal if he isn’t.

This is a bad deal for New Orleans & shows that Griffin is overrated as a GM…especially when you remember they only resigned Adams to that stupidly massive deal last season.