NBA Trades: Instant takeaways from trade between Pelicans and Grizzlies

NBA trade takeaways for the New Orleans Pelicans

This trade provides the New Orleans Pelicans with a nearly clean slate. They wipe away the sins of extending Steven Adams and do so while also ridding themselves of Eric Bledsoe’s contract.

To top it off, they saved $21 million in cap space, and they probably came away with the best player of the trio involved in the deal in Valanciunas. They downgrade their draft stock a bit, swapping the 10th and 40th picks for the 17th and 51st picks, but they’ve got a lot of draft assets and the team they put on the floor next season absolutely must compete for at least a playoff spot.

According to Spotrac’s Keith Smith, this deal could allow them to open up as much as $36.6 million in cap space with likely space coming in around $26.3 million. They have the ability to pay up to retain Lonzo Ball in restricted free agency, if they choose, or to move him via sign-and-trade if that possibility opens up.

The Pelicans had been hamstrung by the mistakes of the past, but this deal gives them a new lease on life without causing much pain at all to either the present or the future.