NBA Rumors: One Trade That Every Team Should Make On Draft Night
By Mason McFee
New Orleans Pelicans
Don’t worry, I didn’t trade Anthony Davis.
I’m crazy, but not ridiculous. There’s a difference.
No, AD is intrigued by my trade proposal.
BKN gets: Omer Asik, Jrue Holiday
New Orleans gets: Brook Lopez
I know this is kind of similar to the trade I did for Brooklyn, but I did this one for a slightly different reason.
It’s been established that Brooklyn needs a PG, so Jrue Holiday makes sense.
What doesn’t make sense is why on earth would you trade Brook Lopez for Omer Asik?
The smart answer is you don’t, but every rebuilding team almost always at some point takes on a bad contract in a trade in order to expedite the rebuilding process. Sadly, for Brooklyn it’s the immobile Turkish center.
Now Asik is obviously good enough to play in the NBA, but he’s already almost 30 despite only playing five years in the NBA. While he’s no Brook Lopez, all he would need to do in Brooklyn is block shots and rebound, things he’s good at. It’s a reduced role where he could flourish.
The Pelicans on the other hand get another scorer in Lopez that gives AD permission to play on the perimeter more and avoid getting injuries by unnecessarily submitting his body to repeatedly getting beat down on the block.
Next: San Antonio Spurs