Jimmy Butler's Season-Ending Injury Presents Fascinating Trade Opportunity for Pelicans

The New Orleans Pelicans may be able to give the Warriors what they are looking for after Jimmy Butler's season-ending injury.

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With two weeks left until the trade deadline, the New Orleans Pelicans remain one of the more fascinating teams in the league. While all reports point towards the Pelicans inexplicably standing pat at the deadline, intriguing trade opportunities will emerge between now and February 5.

One of those opportunities emerged on Monday night when Jimmy Butler devastatingly suffered a season-ending ACL injury, completely altering how the Golden State Warriors will approach the deadline. Butler will, unfortunately, miss around a year with the injury, jeopardizing the rest of his NBA career. The Warriors, led by 37-year-old Steph Curry, can't afford to wait until Butler comes back to contend for a championship.

This means that the Warriors may swing big by trading Butler before the deadline. The Pelicans should seriously consider getting involved.

Pelicans Could Have a Trade Opportunity With Warriors After Butler's Devastating Injury

Obviously, the Pelicans wouldn't be trading for Butler for his on-court impact. The 36-year-old forward is due $56.8 million next season, which he will mostly spend recovering. What the Pelicans can get in a Butler trade is significant future assets from the Warriors.

The Pelicans should see whether the Warriors are interested in a combination of Herb Jones, Trey Murphy, and Zion Williamson. Golden State is already known to be interested in Murphy, and the Pelicans can take advantage of the situation by getting every asset the Warriors can realistically offer.

Butler's $54.1 million salary this season complicates matters a little, but the Pelicans have plenty of matching salary, like Jordan Poole and Dejounte Murray, to make a deal work. The Warriors may not be interested in either player, but a third team can get involved in that scenario.

A potential trade scenario could involve Trey Murphy and Poole, in exchange for Butler and three unprotected first-round picks. Another one could be Zion Williamson and Herb Jones for Butler and multiple first-round picks. The Pelicans could also get the Warriors to attach one of Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody, or Brandin Podziemski in this deal.

Smart teams in the midst of a rebuild have to look for opportunities to add future assets to their coffers. They take advantage of desperate teams looking for upgrades and use them to set themselves up for the future.

Pelicans fans understandably wouldn't want to trade Murphy as he is one of the few bright spots this season, but if New Orleans can get multiple first-round picks with upside, including pick swaps, and intriguing young talent like Podziemski, it would be very hard to say no.

It's not like Joe Dumars & Co. to think outside the box and make a savvy move like this, but it would be wise to at least give the Warriors a call.