It Took Jose Alvarado 6 Games to Make Pelicans Look Dumb in the Knicks Trade

The Pelicans' return in the Jose Alvarado trade looks even worse after his immediate impact on the Knicks.

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The New Orleans Pelicans were frustratingly quiet at the trade deadline. The only move they made was trading fan favorite Jose Alvarado to the New York Knicks. While parting ways with the 27-year-old guard was understandable due to the fact that he may become a free agent in the offseason and the Pelicans aren't going anywhere, the return the Pelicans got in the trade was not nearly sufficient. After only six games with his new team, Alvarado has made the Pelicans front office look foolish for trading him for pennies.

To nobody's surprise, Alvarado has made an immediate impact in New York. Having played a minimum of 18 minutes in each of his six games, Alvarado is averaging 21.2 minutes per game as a Knick and has helped shift the momentum in multiple games. Since he joined the team, the Knicks are a whopping +40 in Alvarado's minutes. This has earned him the right to close games, including Saturday's comeback win over the Rockets when he had five steals in 20 minutes.

The unsung hero of the night: Jose Alvarado!

8 PTS
5 STL pic.twitter.com/jYV4yado7J

— Knicks Fan TV 🏀🎥📺🏁 (@KnicksFanTv) February 22, 2026

Jose Alvarado's Immediate Impact Makes Pelicans Front Office Look Foolish

As a Knick, Alvarado is averaging 10.2 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, and 2.2 steals per game, while providing much-needed intensity and hustle off the bench. More importantly, head coach Mike Brown is unlocking more out of Alvarado offensively. The six-foot guard has a career-high 21.3% usage rate as a Knick and has been as aggressive as ever looking for his shot. He is averaging over nine field goal attempts and taking over six three-pointers per game for the Knicks.

The fact that the Knicks are already doing a better job of utilizing Alvarado than the Pelicans, who had the worst backcourt in the league, is certainly disappointing.

What is more disappointing, however, is how the Knicks were able to acquire him without giving up anything of value. The Pelicans only got two second-rounders from New York in the trade. NBA insider Jake Fischer reported that the 2026 second-rounder the Pelicans get will be the "least favorable of Orlando, Milwaukee, and Detroit," which means that it will almost certainly be Detroit's, and it's projected to be the 59th-overall pick. The 2027 second-rounder will be the second-most favorable of Indiana, Miami, Houston, and OKC. Considering that all four teams are expected to be postseason teams next season, that pick will likely be at best in the middle of the second round.

It's clear that Alvarado is a winner and he will help the Knicks win down the stretch and the playoffs. The Pelicans' inability to get anything more than two terrible second-round picks will be remembered for a long time as the perfect evidence of their incompetence.