The Pelicans should be kicking themselves after trading a rising star to the Hawks

No team in the NBA has been as impacted by injury this season as the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans currently have six rotation players out, including star Zion Williamson, who is out indefinitely with a hamstring injury. That has cast serious doubt on whether the Pelicans can survive the onslaught of injuries and recover enough to make the playoffs.

With the Pelicans currently in free fall, it's hard not to look at a former lottery pick that they gave up while he thrives playing with the Atlanta Hawks. Third-year guard Dyson Daniels, who was taken eighth overall by the Pelicans in 2022, is having a historic start to the season.

He is on pace to shatter the NBA mark for deflections as well as steals with 3.8 takeaways per game, making him a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. This after he struggled to earn minutes in New Orleans and got traded for Dejounte Murray in a deal that was a clear overpay by the Pelicans.

Giving up two firsts and a recent top-10 selection for Murray when other teams, such as the Los Angeles Lakers, balked at giving up two firsts for him seems like a bad decision in retrospect.

The New Orleans Pelicans should have seller's remorse giving up on Dyson Daniels too soon.

Daniels might have been a questionable fit playing alongside Williamson given that Williamson can't shoot and Daniels isn't much of an outside threat either. Be that as it may, the Pelicans must be kicking themselves for giving him up in the deal for Murray. However, he might have never gotten the same opportunity that he has been given by the Hawks.

Daniels has blossomed on another team, emerging as an elite defensive player and even averaging a career-high 15.3 points. It must be bittersweet since this was the player that Pelicans fans were hoping he would become. To the Pelicans credit, Murray has only played one regular season game thus far so he could still pan out and help to balance out the trade more for New Orleans.

The Pelicans will first have to get healthy, with half of their rotation in street clothes. Whether they can all get healthy at the right time remains to be seen, especially with Williamson's questionable health. However, as the Pelicans struggle to keep pace in the tough Western Conference, they are likely reminded of what they gave up in Daniels.