Re-Grading Pelicans' Disastrous Jordan Poole-CJ McCollum Trade

The New Orleans Pelicans' decision to give up CJ McCollum for Jordan Poole looks worse than ever.

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The New Orleans Pelicans front office has had a ton of questionable moves ever since taking over last year. The decision to trade their unprotected first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft for Derik Queen has been widely criticized and will have a lasting impact on the franchise. That move has overshadowed another baffling trade Joe Dumars & Co. made last summer.

New Orleans acquired Jordan Poole from the Washington Wizards in exchange for a package centered around CJ McCollum. With how poorly Poole's season went in New Orleans, how well McCollum has been playing, it's time to re-grade the trade from a Pelicans perspective.

Pelicans Receive: Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey, Micah Peavy (No. 40 pick in 2025 NBA Draft)
Wizards Receive: CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk, 2031 Second-Round Pick

The Saddiq Bey acquisition is certainly a massive win. The 26-year-old forward has had the best season of his career in New Orleans and is on a team-friendly contract that the Pelicans would love to extend. Two-way wings who can do a little bit of everything are valuable in the NBA, and the Pels have found a solid rotation player in Bey.

The Peavy acquisition can be considered an incomplete grade. He has shown flashes early in the season, but fell out of the rotation in the second half of the season. As a 24-year-old rookie, Peavy was supposed to be more NBA-ready than most of his classmates. Whether the Pelicans found a steal in the second round or not remains to be seen.

The most important aspect of the trade is turning McCollum and Olynyk into Poole. The Pelicans gave up $44 million of expiring salary and got back one of the worst contracts in the league. New Orleans paid Poole $31.8 million this season and owes him $34 million in the 2026-27 season. The 26-year-old guard couldn't see the court for the Pelicans for most of the season. When he was out there, he was as inefficient and disengaged as ever.

It's impossible to imagine that the Pelicans will be able to trade Poole without giving up additional assets. They either have to consider buying him out next season or let his contract expire at the end of the season, which means that they will have a $34 million dead salary on their books next season.

McCollum, on the other hand, has been a starter for one of the hottest teams in the league since the trade deadline. He was dealt to the Atlanta Hawks during the season, alongside Corey Kispert, in exchange for Trae Young. As a Hawk, the 34-year-old guard has been better than Young, averaging 18.6 points and 4.1 assists in 28.8 minutes per game. Atlanta has a whopping +10.5 net rating with McCollum on the floor, and is headed to the playoffs in the Eastern Conference.

The Hawks can now re-sign McCollum on a much more favorable deal for the team. He will cost significantly less than Poole while producing much more on the court. If the Hawks want to move on from him instead, they will create cap space, something the Pelicans lack due to their financial commitment to Poole.

If the Pelicans hadn't made this trade, they would almost certainly be better this season. They could have used McCollum in the first half of the season, and he could have given them veteran competence and solid offense. The Pelicans then could have traded him for a positive return.

Having Bey on the roster is nice, but it doesn't make up for the costly downgrade going from McCollum to Poole, not only on the court, but also on the books. Bey saves this from being an F, but it's hard to go above a D.

Grade: D-