4) NBA Trades: Pelicans send Zion Williamson to the Charlotte Hornets
Despite having a 23-year-old All-Star in LaMelo Ball, the Hornets appear hopelessly lost. They have suffered through eight straight seasons without a single playoff appearance and appear no closer to making the playoffs next season.
Part of their struggles has been their inability to draft successfully. While Ball and Brandon Miller appear to be strong choices, they have had several draft busts recently, with the 2024 ninth overall pick, Tidjane Salaun, already appearing to be on shaky ground.
Fortunately, they have a chance at another top-four pick in this year's draft and could use that to potentially select another star. On the other hand, they could use that to try to trade for one instead, and who better than a hometown kid? Williamson was born and raised in North Carolina, and while he floundered playing in New Orleans, he may thrive playing closer to home.
As far as potential trade packages, the Hornets could offer the Pelicans Salaun, Miles Bridges, their lottery pick in this year's draft, and another first. All things considered, that would actually be a decent trade package for the rebuilding Pelicans. Bridges is 25 years old, and while not an All-Star, he has put up strong numbers in Charlotte and could be tradable down the road.
The Pelicans would also be getting a potential top-three pick in this year's draft to go along with their pick, which is projected to be fourth overall. In that scenario, they could draft not one but two players in the top five of this year's draft. That would be a huge deal since it would allow them to potentially draft the foundation of the next great Pelicans team without having to spend two seasons losing games to do so.
That could become more of a reality after the NBA Draft lottery when the Hornets and Pelicans find out where they will be picking. If the Hornets don't end up with the number one pick, then they might be open to trading their selection, and Zion would be a potential target given his relationship to Charlotte and his potential fit next to Ball.
Ball would be the best point guard that Zion has played with in the NBA, and he could help him get easier shots with him being a terrific passer and Zion being a lob threat. Not just that, but Zion is still only 24 years old and would fit the Pelicans' young core of Ball and Miller, who are just 23 and 22, respectively.
Given how poorly things have gone for the Hornets, they should be open to acquiring Zion in the hopes that he can live up to his full potential. If he can't, then they'd only be giving up a high lottery pick, another future first, and a prospect that appears to have a lot of development ahead of him.
That will be a reasonable trade-off if Zion can manage to stay healthy and string together several All-NBA caliber seasons. Of course, in this potential deal, the Pelicans will be betting that he can't, and they'd be getting a good return on a player who has played less than half of his potential career games. That makes this trade a potential win-win for both sides, with the Hornets getting a player with significant upside while the Pelicans get a chance to jump-start a rebuild