New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson has himself a new point guard after Lonzo Ball left for the Chicago Bulls during free agency on Monday.
According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, New Orleans has acquired young guard Devonte’ Graham in a sign-and-trade with the Charlotte Hornets in exchange for a first-round pick.
Other reports suggest that a lottery protected 2022 first-round pick is headed back to Charlotte in the deal. There’s likely going to be more moving parts in the trade to help New Orleans from a salary cap perspective.
Whether Graham can be seen as an upgrade over Ball in New Orleans remains to be seen. The former second-round pick from Kansas is a career 38% shooter from the field, including a 36% mark from three-point range.
This past season saw Graham’s production decline once the Hornets added LaMelo Ball in the 2020 NBA Draft.
Graham had a breakout sophomore campaign in 2019-20, averaging 18.2 points and 7.5 assists, before his usage took a hit for the Hornets this past season. Regardless, New Orleans needed to finds a point guard to help Williamson and Brandon Ingram after trading Eric Bledsoe and seeing Lonzo Ball leave via sign-and-trade.
Pelicans front office head David Griffin has been attempting to bring in veterans thus far this offseason. To an extent, he’s accomplished that feat with Graham, Tomas Satoransky, Garrett Temple and Jonas Valančiūnas.
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