NBA Rumors: 1 ‘Bad’ contract every team must explore trading this offseason

New Orleans Pelicans

Bad contract to explore trading: C.J. McCollum (2 years, $64 million)

The young New Orleans Pelicans don't have a ton of bad money on their books moving forward. While that could certainly change after they hand out some extensions in the next couple of offseasons, that isn't true to say at the moment. However, for the sake of this article, one "bad" contract that the Pelicans could look to trade this summer is C.J. McCollum. Even though McCollum is still productive as a soon-to-be 33-year-old, he's a player that doesn't exactly line up with the rest of this team's timeline.

Because of that, there's a case to be made that McCollum is a player that the Pelicans could look to cash in on via trade, especially with just two years left on his contract. Trading McCollum could also make sense for the Pelicans. If New Orleans ends up in a spot where they also trade Brandon Ingram, this is a team that could end up taking a bit of a step back before they take one forward.

If the Pelicans end up trading Ingram, there's no question the next should involve trading McCollum. If nothing else, it's something to think about heading into the offseason.