The trade deadline is over, and the New Orleans Pelicans made one trade. Yes, the team that is 13-40 this season made one trade. The team with no first-round pick in the 2026 draft made one trade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was the Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver-led front offices’ chance to establish direction and commit to a plan. Whether that be making buying moves with the hope of building momentum heading into the 2026-27 season. Or selling hard and gaining back future assets (my preferred choice) that can be used to build out a future around Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But instead, they did neither of those things. The only trade made <\/a>saw the team’s heart and soul, Jose Alvarado, sent to the New York Knicks in exchange for a pair of second-round picks and Dalen Terry.\u00a0<\/p>\n By refusing to act, the Pelicans made sure that this deadline wouldn\u2019t be remembered for what they did but for what they refused to do, simultaneously continuing the trend of this team having no direction.<\/p>\n Another missed opportunity<\/p>\n As someone who has spent years playing fake GM in NBA 2k, the way the front office is run seriously hurts my brain. Not because building a roster is easy, but because the clear signs calling for change keep getting ignored.\u00a0<\/p>\n This core has been together for nearly five years. The result? Zero playoff series wins. And yet, there has been no urgency to shake things up or offer fans a genuinely new vision.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Pelicans didn\u2019t even have to trade Zion Williamson if they<\/a> truly believed they could build a winner with him at the helm. But when you\u2019re in a lost season like the Pelicans are, you have to make some form of change and shake things up. Players like Herb Jones were among the most sought-after pieces. And the Pelicans could have created a bidding war out of that, but they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n