Pelicans Should Pursue a Veteran PG at Trade Deadline to Help Young Core

The New Orleans Pelicans desperately needs a capable playmaker to organize the offense.

Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

With only three weeks left before the February 5 trade deadline, the New Orleans Pelicans remain one of the most fascinating teams on the market. Most of the attention has been given to the Pels as sellers, but all reports are pointing towards Joe Dumars & Co. standing pat. If New Orleans is to make any moves, they will likely be smaller moves that won't involve the core of Jeremiah Fears, Trey Murphy, Derik Queen, and Herb Jones.

The Pelicans' unwillingness to be aggressive on the trade market doesn't preclude them from being buyers. They will obviously not give up any significant draft capital to upgrade the roster, but they should look for opportunities to upgrade the roster in small but important ways.

Under interim head coach James Borrego, the Pelicans took a step forward offensively. Since he took over in mid-November, New Orleans has the 20th-best offense in the league. Most of their issues have come on the defensive side of the ball, but the Pelicans still have a long way to go offensively. One way to do that is by adding a veteran ball-handler to run the offense.

Pelicans Should Consider Adding a Veteran PG at Trade Deadline

This new addition doesn't necessarily have to start or play extended minutes. The Pelicans just need someone who can put their young players in a position to succeed. This means controlling the pace, running some pick-and-roll, and organizing the offense. The Pelicans are in desperate need of pass-first perimeter players who can make good, quick decisions. This player could do wonders as a mentor for talented rookie Jeremiah Fears.

The future of the point guard position in New Orleans belongs to Fears. He is an electric, hard-to-stop ball-handler who can get to the rim at will. The shooting and finishing will come over time, but Fears has shown enough flashes to be optimistic about his future. The problem is, he is overstretched as the starting point guard and a primary playmaker on this team.

With Fears on the court, the Pelicans have a 111.4 offensive rating, 2.9 points worse than when he is off, per Cleaning the Glass. The combination of his 25.2% usage rate and poor 52.3% True Shooting is a factor in why the Pelicans struggle offensively. His 3.1:2.5 AST: TO ratio leaves plenty to be desired.

Fears can continue to play the lion's share of minutes at point guard, but the Pelicans can take on a veteran ball-handler that another team is trying to get rid of. The Pelicans don't have any second-round picks to trade until the 2030 NBA Draft, but they can take on negative assets in salary dumps or use one of their players with trade value, like Yves Missi, Saddiq Bey, or Jose Alvarado.

Some names that come to mind in such a move are Mike Conley, Tyus Jones, TJ McConnell, and Jalen Pickett, who may all be acquirable at the deadline. Chris Paul would be an ideal option as well, but he is probably not very interested in spending his final few months in the NBA on the team with the worst record in the Western Conference.