New Orleans Pelicans: Pros And Cons Of Trading For Markieff Morris
Pro: Contracts
For starters, we should probably note that any potential deal for the 26-year-old Markieff Morris would begin with stretch-4 Ryan Anderson.
New Orleans has been rumored to be willing to part with their backup power forward for awhile now, which is confirmed in the Yahoo! Sports report. With Keef on the books for $8 million this year and Anderson’s $8.5 million contract in play, a straight-up swap would be possible.
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From the Pelicans’ perspective, that would be the ideal scenario, since Anderson’s contract expires at the end of the season. At that point, he’ll be walking right into a free agency bonanza with the NBA’s salary cap set to jump to a projected $89 million.
New Orleans is trying to build a better team around Anthony Davis, and though the 27-year-old Anderson is a tremendous bench piece, he and his porous defense would hardly be considered intrinsic to assembling a contender.
Anderson stands to make a lot of money from someone next summer, and the Pelicans would much rather let the Suns worry about that problem and enjoy having Keef locked in for another three years at a bargain price of $24 million. To avoid overpaying to keep Anderson, trading for a player on a long-term deal who can spread the floor from the midrange isn’t a horrible idea.
Next: Con: Current Play