NBA Trade Rumors: Pelicans could target Jarrett Allen to replace Jonas Valanciunas
NBA Trade Rumors: The New Orleans Pelicans could explore making a move for Jarrett Allen via trade.
The New Orleans Pelicans will head into the 2023-24 NBA season with the hopes of getting the benefit of health. If they would’ve remained healthy last season, you could make the argument that they would’ve finished as a top 4 or 5 seed in the Western Conference standings. That didn’t end up happening last year but the hope is that it ends up being different this season.
The Pelicans have a talented roster, and it’s fair to say that they’ve been largely limited by their unfortunate luck regarding injuries. Heading into the start of the season, though, they may not just rely on having a clean bill of health. New Orleans could be proactive in solidifying this team’s frontcourt by adding another talented big.
According to a recent report, the Pelicans could explore the idea of trading for Cleveland Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen. Without the guarantee that Jonas Valanciunas will re-sign with the team after the season, it would be wise for the Pelicans to explore somewhat of a plan b at the center position.
Jarret Allen would fit better on the New Orleans Pelicans
Allen would represent just that and would also give the Pelicans the liberty to move on from JV now if they wanted to. But Allen makes more sense than just the fact that he’d be a good fit next to Zion Williamson.
He’s under contract for three more years compared to JV who is expiring after this season and fits the timeline of the Pelicans’ core of Zion and Brandon Ingram a bit more than JV. Allen is still just 25 years old and is still getting to his ceiling as a player.
JV is 31 years old and has actually seen his role with the team diminish in each of the last two seasons. In Cleveland, the continued emergence of Evan Mobley could make Allen somewhat dispensable.
Theoretically, the Cavs could probably play both Allen and Mobley together, which they’ve been doing, but if Cleveland wanted to get a bit more creative with their supporting cast, they could easily move Allen and use that $20 million elsewhere for their roster.
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It’ll be interesting to see how both these ideals end up working out. It wouldn’t be that surprising if the Pelicans tried to get young at the center position and at the same rate, there’s at least a far chance that Cleveland ends up trading Allen. The question is, will those two potential moves overlap with each other?