Pelicans' Rumored Trade Interest in Jaylen Brown Is a Big Mistake

The New Orleans Pelicans have a fascinating offseason ahead of them. On one hand, there are teams around the league interested in the Pelicans' veterans and are willing to give up future assets to acquire them. On the other hand, the Pelicans seemingly want to take a step forward next season after back-to-back seasons of winning fewer than 30 games. The league hopes and expects the Pelicans to be sellers, but this is in direct contrast with the front office's aspirations.

The latest report by NBA insider Jake Fischer confirms that the Pelicans are more likely to be buyers than sellers. In his live stream on Bleacher Report on Tuesday, Fischer reported that the Pelicans are one of four teams interested in Jaylen Brown. Fischer said that the Pelicans, along with the Rockets, Blazers, and the Hawks, are in pursuit of the Boston Celtics star.

This was later shared by Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson and was widely speculated about on social media. While Pelicans fans' excitement about the potential acquisition of a former Finals MVP is understandable, it would be a massive mistake for the Pelicans to trade for Brown.

Pelicans Shouldn't Give Up Future Assets for Jaylen Brown

The 29-year-old forward had the best season of his career. In Jayson Tatum's absence during the regular season, Brown stepped up into the No. 1 option role and helped Boston exceed all expectations. He was a well-deserving All-NBA second team selection. If the Celtics are ready to make big changes after losing in the first round, they will have plenty of suitors for Brown.

The Pelicans shouldn't be one of them.

New Orleans is so far from making any noise in the playoffs that the addition of Brown isn't going to close the gap. The Pelicans aren't just one All-NBA player away from title contention, especially since they will have to give up significant assets to acquire him.

Given Brown's trade value, the Pelicans almost certainly have to give up Trey Murphy in this deal. One of Jordan Poole, Zion Williamson, and Dejounte Murray also has to be included for salary-matching. Plus, the Pelicans have to include future first-round picks.

If the Pelicans were a Jaylen Brown away from being contenders, this would be a worthy swing. But Brown will turn 30 before the regular season and is under contract for three more seasons and $183 million. Giving up your most valuable player and a chunk of your already-limited draft capital so that you can pay Brown $57 million next season to chase a Play-In spot is extremely short-sighted.

Trading for Brown means taking a shortcut. Instead of doing the hard work of rebuilding from the bottom up, the Pelicans would be choosing the easy way to relevance.

The Pelicans only won 26 games last season despite desperately trying to win games when a third of the league was tanking. They were a bad team, even though they had solid injury luck with Zion Williamson and the rest of the roster.

How many wins is turning Trey Murphy into Jaylen Brown going to add? Is winning 35 games in the Western Conference really worth giving up future first-round picks?

Signs point to Joe Dumars being a buyer this summer. This would be organizational malpractice, setting the Pelicans back even further.

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