Shams: Pels trade McColllum, KO, and 2nd round pick to WAS for Poole, Bey, & #40

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I'm just saying, the way the salaries work, if the Cs also sent KP as part of this trade to the Pelicans, and the Pelicans sent back Jones and a draft pick (the 7th?), it works financially. We'd be completely out of the 2nd apron, but would still need to trade Hauser to open space to resign Kornet, Al, and sign the draft picks.

[Ilikesports17]

I'm just saying, the way the salaries work, if the Cs also sent KP as part of this trade to the Pelicans, and the Pelicans sent back Jones and a draft pick (the 7th?), it works financially. We'd be completely out of the 2nd apron, but would still need to trade Hauser to open space to resign Kornet, Al, and sign the draft picks.

Would not hold my breath hoping for this type of value for Kristaps

[dannyboy35]

If Smart was back in this team I?d take a year off. I just can?t.

[cltc5]

Sweeten the deal and throw in James young

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I'm just saying, the way the salaries work, if the Cs also sent KP as part of this trade to the Pelicans, and the Pelicans sent back Jones and a draft pick (the 7th?), it works financially. We'd be completely out of the 2nd apron, but would still need to trade Hauser to open space to resign Kornet, Al, and sign the draft picks.

Would not hold my breath hoping for this type of value for Kristaps

We will see. There seems to be a lot of interest in him already. Stevens did a good job getting value from Holliday already and everyone thought we'd need to give up assets to get out of his contract.

[jambr380]

Now trade Simons for KO and Marcus, lol.

Simons for Marcus and more draft compensation would be great.  Saving another $6 million and getting someone who fits Jrue?s role and knows the team would be a home run for the first round of salary cutting.  It?s been my hope for weeks, but I have not wanted to say it aloud because Marcus can be polarizing.

I'll say it aloud. I love Marcus and would love this to happen.

That being said, Marcus has had injury issues the last couple of years and would likely not be the same Marcus who elevated our team. I'm also not completely confident we would keep him, as Brad likely wants to keep shaving down that Jrue salary.

If we did move Simons for Marcus, I'd imagine we should be getting draft compensation, but WAS just traded Poole, I'm not sure they're in the market for a different version of him - especially with McCollum now there.

[SparzWizard]

No Smart. He's washed. After winning DPOY, he just watered down his defensive production and his overall production

[keevsnick]

The Wizards are going to have a TON of cap space next summer. They have the following expiring's this season:

Middleton at 33.3 million
McCollum at 30.7 million
Smart at 21.6 million
Olynyk at 13.5 million
Holmes at 13.3 million

As of right now they have only about 55 million committed to 8 players (not including their draft picks this year) against what will be a roughly 170 million dollar cap in 26-27.

Their entire team is either A) expiring veterans who they'll try to rehab and maybe flip at the trade deadline or B) Recently drafted guys on rookie deals.

[Who]

Shams Charania
@ShamsCharania
?
22s
The New Orleans Pelicans are trading CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk and a future second-round pick to the Washington Wizards for Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and the No. 40 pick, sources tell ESPN.

NOP traded the 2 best players in the deal for the 2 worst players in the deal. Terrible trade.

Joe Dumars is back y'all!

[Who]

Bruce Brown Jr is a free agent. I imagine getting Seddiq Bey in the deal means Bey is his replacement.

I would like to see BB go back to Denver. That was good for both parties. He hasn't had the individual success he had in Denver since leaving there. With Westbrook set to leave, there is a vacancy there in his old role.

[Who]

New Orleans Roster

G: J Poole, J Alvarado
G: Herbert Jones, J Hawkins
F: Trey Murphy III, Seddiq Bey
F: Zion Williamson
C: Y Missi, James Earl Robinson

Lot of problems on that team.

* No legit starting PG with Dejounte Murray out with the achilles injury. I wonder if they are better off starting Alvarado and bringing Poole off the bench. I imagine they will start Poole and make Zion the point forward.

* Center rotation is the worst in the league

* Bench is very weak. Alvarado is the only plus bench player. Bey has been out for awhile. We'll have to wait and see what level he can perform at. Jordan Hawkins is still a below average bench player who cannot guard anyone. Too small and easily overpowered. Similar to J Poole in that regard at the SG position. Two guys who cannot defend anyone. Then the non-entity in terms of big man depth. No big forward depth either.

It looks like a roster that has good strengths but also major flaws and those major flaws will wreck their season. I don't see them making a push for a play-in spot.

I am guesing a 28-30 win team. Largely out of respect for Zion. And if Zion gets injured, it is more a team in the 15-20 win range.

[Moranis]

New Orleans Roster

G: J Poole, J Alvarado
G: Herbert Jones, J Hawkins
F: Trey Murphy III, Seddiq Bey
F: Zion Williamson
C: Y Missi, James Earl Robinson

Lot of problems on that team.

* No legit starting PG with Dejounte Murray out with the achilles injury. I wonder if they are better off starting Alvarado and bringing Poole off the bench. I imagine they will start Poole and make Zion the point forward.

* Center rotation is the worst in the league

* Bench is very weak. Alvarado is the only plus bench player. Bey has been out for awhile. We'll have to wait and see what level he can perform at. Jordan Hawkins is still a below average bench player who cannot guard anyone. Too small and easily overpowered. Similar to J Poole in that regard at the SG position. Two guys who cannot defend anyone. Then the non-entity in terms of big man depth. No big forward depth either.

It looks like a roster that has good strengths but also major flaws and those major flaws will wreck their season. I don't see them making a push for a play-in spot.

I am guesing a 28-30 win team. Largely out of respect for Zion. And if Zion gets injured, it is more a team in the 15-20 win range.

id take Missi over anyone on Celtics roster. He showed a lot of promise as a rookie. I think he is going to be a quality starting center.

[A Future of Stevens]

I love how fundamentally, the Pelicans looked at McCollum. They thought "He isn't a great fit next to Zion...give me Poole."

What a trash organization.

[Who]

New Orleans Roster

G: J Poole, J Alvarado
G: Herbert Jones, J Hawkins
F: Trey Murphy III, Seddiq Bey
F: Zion Williamson
C: Y Missi, James Earl Robinson

Lot of problems on that team.

* No legit starting PG with Dejounte Murray out with the achilles injury. I wonder if they are better off starting Alvarado and bringing Poole off the bench. I imagine they will start Poole and make Zion the point forward.

* Center rotation is the worst in the league

* Bench is very weak. Alvarado is the only plus bench player. Bey has been out for awhile. We'll have to wait and see what level he can perform at. Jordan Hawkins is still a below average bench player who cannot guard anyone. Too small and easily overpowered. Similar to J Poole in that regard at the SG position. Two guys who cannot defend anyone. Then the non-entity in terms of big man depth. No big forward depth either.

It looks like a roster that has good strengths but also major flaws and those major flaws will wreck their season. I don't see them making a push for a play-in spot.

I am guesing a 28-30 win team. Largely out of respect for Zion. And if Zion gets injured, it is more a team in the 15-20 win range.

id take Missi over anyone on Celtics roster. He showed a lot of promise as a rookie. I think he is going to be a quality starting center.

I wasn't impressed with him in the immediate sense. I don't think he is a starter quality player right now. I am not sure he is even ready to be a backup center on a playoff team. I believe on most contenders he would be a 3rd stringer.

He has solid upside down the line. Good size / frame. Once he improves his defensive fundamentals / positioning, he should be a solid center. Not sure that happens as soon as next season though.

[Moranis]

New Orleans Roster

G: J Poole, J Alvarado
G: Herbert Jones, J Hawkins
F: Trey Murphy III, Seddiq Bey
F: Zion Williamson
C: Y Missi, James Earl Robinson

Lot of problems on that team.

* No legit starting PG with Dejounte Murray out with the achilles injury. I wonder if they are better off starting Alvarado and bringing Poole off the bench. I imagine they will start Poole and make Zion the point forward.

* Center rotation is the worst in the league

* Bench is very weak. Alvarado is the only plus bench player. Bey has been out for awhile. We'll have to wait and see what level he can perform at. Jordan Hawkins is still a below average bench player who cannot guard anyone. Too small and easily overpowered. Similar to J Poole in that regard at the SG position. Two guys who cannot defend anyone. Then the non-entity in terms of big man depth. No big forward depth either.

It looks like a roster that has good strengths but also major flaws and those major flaws will wreck their season. I don't see them making a push for a play-in spot.

I am guesing a 28-30 win team. Largely out of respect for Zion. And if Zion gets injured, it is more a team in the 15-20 win range.

id take Missi over anyone on Celtics roster. He showed a lot of promise as a rookie. I think he is going to be a quality starting center.

I wasn't impressed with him in the immediate sense. I don't think he is a starter quality player right now. I am not sure he is even ready to be a backup center on a playoff team. I believe on most contenders he would be a 3rd stringer.

He has solid upside down the line. Good size / frame. Once he improves his defensive fundamentals / positioning, he should be a solid center. Not sure that happens as soon as next season though.

that is fair, but the Celtics bigs are worse and have no real growth potential to get better. 

I think the Pelicans are going to try and trade Zion. No point in keeping him if they can get any value for him.