New Orleans Pelicans: Is it time to pivot to Collin Sexton?

What should the New Orleans Pelicans do next?

At the beginning of the offseason, I was intrigued and excited about the possibilities that the New Orleans Pelicans would have. After the NBA Draft and free agency, many are still left scratching their heads about what exactly the offseason plan was for New Orleans.

The Pelicans traded out of the top 10 of the 2021 NBA Draft and selected Trey Murphy with the 17th overall pick. They added Herbert Jones with a second-round pick. They would also trade away their other second-round pick.

In free agency, the Pelicans were relatively quiet and made more headlines for their inactivity than their moves. The big move of the offseason thus far for New Orleans was landing Devonte’ Graham as part of a sign-and-trade.

More from Sir Charles In Charge

Even though Graham is a good player, he doesn’t exactly qualify as a splash signing for the team. And they desperately needed one. Perhaps their biggest head-scratching move was letting Lonzo Ball walk free.

He signed an offer sheet with the Chicago Bulls and the Pelicans had no interest in matching their offer, so opted to agree to a sign-and-trade in which the team received Tomas Staoransky and Garrett Temple from the Bulls.

In an offseason that the Pelicans had to hit a home run, especially with internal pressure mounting after essentially wasting away two years of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, they really have nothing to show for it.

And, in fact, you can make an argument that the team actually got worse.

Though, there is one move that could potentially salvage what has been a disappointing offseason for the team: targeting Collin Sexton.

Should the New Orleans Pelicans pivot to Collin Sexton?

Assuming that nothing has changed for the Cleveland Cavaliers and that they still don’t want to pay Sexton and, instead, would want to opt to trade him, the Pelicans, especially considering the offseason that they had, should absolutely explore.

Sexton is a score-first point guard that would help this team on the offensive end immediately. He’d fill the void left by Ball on that end of the floor, and then some. The big concern revolving around Sexton comes on the defensive end of the floor and whether he’s good enough of a playmaker to be a starting point guard on a winning team.

Though, those are the types of concerns that you roll the dice with. Especially in the NBA, you compile the talent and worry about fit later.

Then again, considering that the Pelicans didn’t want to pay Ball what they will likely have to pay Sexton, it’s no guarantee that they’d even be interested in making such a move. With all the big-name free agents officially off the board, I’m not quite sure what exactly the Pelicans’ plan is at the moment.

Next. Perhaps The Miami Heat Shouldn't Trade Tyler Herro After All. dark

Assuming they had one heading into the offseason, it simply didn’t seem like a well-thought-out one. Heading into the 2021-22 NBA campaign, there might not be a non-contender with more pressure on them than the Pelicans.

Home/New Orleans Pelicans