The Pelicans Are Reportedly Ready To Blow Things Up And That Includes Trading Zion Williamson

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Now that we're past the December 15th trade restriction date, the NBA trade season is officially underway. We've already had our first impactful deal of the season with the Warriors trading for Dennis Schroder, and now that the dam has been broken I imagine we're going to be getting a whole lot more Shams bombs over the next few weeks.

Once you get to this stage, it also means we're going to start hearing about which teams are ready to smash the rebuild button and start selling off pieces. If you're a team that finds itself at the bottom of the standings but you have expensive pieces, now's the time to cash those in for assets and embrace the tank. While most of those teams are the ones you expect (WSH, POR, UTA, TOR), there's another team to add to the list that is in this reality mostly through some absolutely brutal injury luck.

Enter, the New Orleans Pelicans

At just 5-22, their season is over. Sorry if that offends, but it's the truth. They're 9.5 game back of the 10th seed, they have the 2nd worst point differential in the NBA (-11.5), and at this point, the time has come. It's not their fault, injuries have ruined their season, but that's not exactly a new problem. For whatever reason, this group just isn't working, which is why you are getting reports like this

“While naturally resistant to trade inquiries for their younger gems — Herb Jones, rookie Yves Missi and Trey Murphy III — word is that the Pelicans are essentially open to trade pitches for pretty much anyone else on the roster apart from those three amid a 5-21 start and more injury woe than even Philadelphia.”

Notice a certain name missing from that protected list? It's hard not to really. Based on that reporting, it sure sounds like the Pelicans are ready to move on from the Zion Williamson Experience. While somewhat surprising, can you blame them? He hurt his hamstring in early November, in late November Shams reported that he was nowhere close to returning

and now here we are in mid-December and there are still no signs of him being close to coming back. If you're going to be sellers and begin your rebuild, it makes sense as to why you'd entertain the idea of someone taking Zion off your hands. A crazy turn considering where we started with the Zion Experience, but that's the reality. When he's on the floor he's a monster, but if he's never on the floor then what good does he do?

Now, here's the tricky part. How many teams that are looking to be buyers on the trade market have both the need and the money to take on this deal?

What even is the market for Zion right now? If you look at the contenders, I'm not sure anyone even makes sense from a math perspective and that's before you even get into the fact that they'd be trading for a guy who might not be on the floor for a while. Given his high salary, unless you also have a high salary player you are looking to dump, chances are you need to trade multiple pieces and who is gutting their roster for an injured Zion?

If you extend to non-contenders who may not give a shit about his health and are just looking to add talent, it's hard to ignore a team like the Blazers potentially. They can use the Ayton money ($34M) since they already have Rob/Clingan and who knows maybe Zion returns, builds up his value again and they flip him to someone else down the road.

There's a universe where maybe the Heat flip Jimmy Butler for Zion if they truly believe Butler is leaving after this season, but trying to find a reason the Pelicans would say yes to that is pretty tough. No chance Butler re-signs on a high lottery rebuilding team, and their picks aren't exactly slated to be in the high lottery either like the Blazers' could be.

The point is there was once a time in the league where if Zion was going to be floated out in trade rumors, almost every team in the league would be interested. Now, can you even think of 5 when you factor in the price and the health? That just goes to show how quickly things can change in the NBA. 

My guess? Zion remains on the Pelicans through the trade deadline simply because it's hard to move big time salary players mid-season, especially when so many teams think they have a legit shot at a deep playoff run. But if one of those teams underachieve this Spring? To me, it becomes much more likely someone pulls the trigger on Zion. Who knows, maybe a change of scenery is all he really needs, that's something that happens all the time in the league. Just because things have been a disaster in NO doesn't mean they'd be the same in a new environment, especially when a guy is just 24 years old.

But if this truly is the beginning of the end? It probably goes down as one of the biggest NBA "What Ifs" we have to date.