Brian Windhorst's Pelicans Remarks Signal Potentially Disastrous Trade

The New Orleans Pelicans have lost seven straight and are 2-13 for the season. The hopes of returning to the postseason are dwindling. Having traded away their 2026 first-round pick, there isn't much for Pelicans fans to be hopeful about for this season.

The future, however, is brighter in New Orleans. Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen look like home run picks. Trey Murphy has taken a big step forward and looks like an organizational centerpiece. The Pelicans have to have their future in mind when making moves, both this season and next summer.

That is why ESPN's Brian Windhorst's post on Threads should set off alarm bells for Pelicans fans. Responding to a question about where the Pelicans go from here, Windhorst said that the team was hoping for a boost with Williamson's return and Willie Green's departure, and "may consider a trade that will be win now, which you never see from teams in last place."

This is in line with what Windhorst reported two weeks ago about what rival executives were saying. Since Williamson doesn't have much trade value, there is reportedly an expectation that the Pels could make a win-now trade instead.

A Win-Now Trade Would Be a Complete Disaster for the Pelicans

The Pelicans can trade three first-round picks and multiple pick swaps as they control their own draft picks from 2028 to 2032. They have the matching salaries of Jordan Poole and Dejounte Murray, meaning that they could get to over $60 million in incoming salary in trades just with those two players. Add Kevon Looney and Saddiq Bey's contracts, and the possibilities are endless for the Pelicans.

Yet, it is hard to overstate how big a disaster this would be. Pushing more chips in and giving up more of your future away just to chase a play-in spot this year is utterly meaningless. The Pelicans can't afford to rush the process and can't be tricked by their original sin of trading away their 2026 first-round pick. They can't take shortcuts and have to suffer through the pain of rebuilding from the foundation. This doesn't mean that they have to trade away Williamson, Murphy, and Herb Jones right away. It just means that they have to be in asset accumulation mode.

No smart organization in the NBA would be a buyer when they are 2-13. Unfortunately, with Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver at the helm, Pelicans fans can't trust their organization to be one of those smart ones. The real tragedy for Pelicans fans is the fact that no one in the NBA would be surprised if they gave up multiple future draft picks in an in-season trade.

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