Pelicans' Recent Surge Shows Exactly Why a Ja Morant Trade Is a Bad Idea

The New Orleans Pelicans are winning with physicality and intensity. There is no need to jeopardize that by trading for Ja Morant.

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The New Orleans Pelicans put together two of their best performances of the season in back-to-back road wins against the Grizzlies and the Spurs. They still have a long way to go before they can start feeling good about where they are as a franchise, but there is finally a little bit of hope around James Borrego's Pelicans.

A big factor in the Pelicans' mini-winning streak has been the new starting lineup. New Orleans has benched rookie Jeremiah Fears and started Trey Murphy, Saddiq Bey, Herb Jones, Zion Williamson, and Derik Queen together in a massive, guard-less unit. Jordan Poole has been completely marginalized and was a DNP-Coach's Decision on Sunday. As a result, the Pelicans had one of their best defensive showings of the season, putting up a 100.0 defensive rating against a solid Spurs team.

With three wings with size, length, and athleticism on the perimeter, the Pelicans become difficult to score on. The trio of Murphy, Jones, and Bey covers up for the defensive shortcomings of Queen at center. Without Poole or Fears on the floor, the Pelicans have few places to attack defensively, which helps them look more like a competitive NBA team.

Pelicans Need to Prioritize Defense & Shooting Instead of Ja Morant

This is why the recent rumors about the Pelicans' interest in Ja Morant make little sense. New Orleans already has two defensive liabilities in Fears and Queen, and they will have a large role for this team for a long time. Adding Morant, another undersized guard who doesn't defend, would be a bad idea.

Many Pelicans fans are understandably excited about the possibility of adding Morant without giving up much value. If the price is a combination of Dejounte Murray, Jordan Poole, and a few middling assets, the talent upgrade can seem appealing.

The idea of Morant has been more appealing than the reality for many years. He has yet to play in seven straight games in three years, and is once again sidelined with an elbow sprain. In addition to his serious availability concerns, he remains one of the least efficient high-volume scorers in the league. He will create defensive issues without really adding much offensively. If anything, his inability to shoot the ball will cause further spacing concerns for the Pelicans, who already play multiple non-shooters in their rotation.

Even if the cost to acquire Morant is low, the opportunity cost can't be ignored. Morant is under contract for $87 million for the next two seasons. Unless he starts playing significantly better immediately upon joining the Pelicans, he will be a negative asset on the books over the next two years. The Pelicans need to be in the business of adding future assets and draft capital instead of acquiring bad contracts.

The formula for the Pelicans is obvious: Build around Fears, Queen, and Murphy, and put as much shooting and defense around them as possible. There is a reason the Pelicans seemingly only win when Bey and Jones are available. They need to be trying to add more players like them rather than ball-dominant, offense-only players like Morant.