Did the New Orleans Pelicans just create cap space to pursue Kyle Lowry?

Did the New Orleans Pelicans just tip their offseason plans after a huge pre-NBA Draft trade? 

Heading into the offseason, there aren’t many teams that are under more pressure than the New Orleans Pelicans’ front office. Through two years of Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, the Pelicans don’t have much success to point at.

Over the past two seasons, the team has gone a combined 61-83 and has missed the playoffs in each of the last two years. They haven’t improved much – they only won one more game this season compared to last season – and with as much talent as this team possesses, that is somewhat head-scratching.

After moving on from head coach Stan Van Gundy, and hiring Willie Green as his replacement, this is a big year for the Pelicans. And it needs to start with some offseason home run moves. And the first personnel move is in.

The New Orleans Pelicans opened up a boatload of cap space

The Pelicans struck a trade with the Memphis Grizzlies Monday afternoon. Here are the official details of the trade:

While the Pelicans will lose some depth by parting ways with Eric Bledsoe, the team roughly breaks even by swapping Jonas Valanciunas for Steven Adams – along with swapping a few draft picks.

However, perhaps more importantly, what the Pelicans were able to do salary-cap wise is what should stand out in this deal. New Orleans managed to create $36 million in cap space (can get to that figure if they renounce their own free agents) and would give them enough money to match any offer Lonzo Ball may receive on the restricted free agent market or would give them enough money to sign Kyle Lowry (via sign-and-trade or outright).

It’s pretty clear the Pelicans have some pretty big plans up their sleeves for the offseason and don’t intend on bringing back the same roster. The first natural step for the offseason always included getting off some of their big-money contracts. And they successfully achieved that with this trade.

Now the question becomes, what will come next? Will New Orleans want to bring back Ball? Will they go all-in on bringing in Lowry, hoping that his veteran leadership and championship pedigree is something that can jumpstart Zion and Ingram next season?

Either way, the good news is that the Pelicans now have options. I’m not sure if that’s something many envisioned for this team just a few weeks ago.