NBA Trades: Hawks and Pelicans swap stars in a tantalizing proposed offseason deal

NBA Trades: Would the Pelicans agree to the deal?

A common critique of the Pelicans is that they could use an upgrade at point guard and center and Young and Capela would qualify even with fit concerns. One of the reasons why the Pelicans play without a traditional point guard is due to Zion handling the ball.

His unique skill set makes it hard for him to play with the traditional playmaker, considering he is a power forward who can't space the floor on offense or scale up to play center on defense. Were he able to do so, that would help to offset his lack of shooting while giving the Pelicans more options.

However, that is simply unfeasible, meaning that he will need to play with a center most of the time, preferably one that can shoot, and Capela can't. Young's fit is better in the sense that he is an above-average, high-volume. 3-point shooter, allowing him to play without the ball. Having a stretch five would still be ideal for the Pelicans, but they would probably have enough spacing.

Having Zion continue with some of the playmaking responsibilities helps negate some of the loss of two offensive players in Ingram and McCollum, while they would likely be much better defensively with Murphy, Jones, and Capela starting together. Ultimately, the Pelicans might just agree to the deal.