David Griffin Explains New Orleans Pelicans Expected Win-Now Plan At Trade Deadline

David Griffin has elevated expectations and enthusiasm levels around the New Orleans Pelicans. According to recent comments, the team is already analyzing possible moves with an eye on the trade deadline.

David Griffin has successfully negotiated the Anthony Davis trade, netting Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart, and a half-decade of draft picks. Adding Derrick Favors and JJ Redick to the New Orleans Pelicans has created playoff expectations in mere months. Zion Williamson helps, sure.

 

Still, Griffin is not done building the New Orleans Pelicans. Trajan Langdon and Swin Cash will scout for reinforcements while helping Aaron Nelson develop the in-house talent, Erie Bayhawks included.

 

Save for a trade to acquire Bradley Beal before training camp, the next big opportunity to improve the team is the trade deadline. We know the team is already plotting a move or two. David Griffin and Alvin Gentry gave plenty of telling quotes to Sports Illustrated.

 

Not only is Gentry coaching for his job, but he also does not see the point in tanking. More teams than ever feel they have a shot at the NBA Finals. Also, the lottery has changed as the New Orleans Pelicans well know.

Regarding any possibility of the coming season ending with a back-half tank job, Gentry told SI.com “I don’t see it. It takes you from 6.8% to 7% [lottery odds].”

 

As long as the Lakers trio stays healthy, Jrue Holiday, Redick and Favors are too experienced to fall far from the playoff chase. The new team culture demands the team to be competitive in order to create the right environment around Williamson.

 

Griffin was even more adamant than Gentry, saying “We’re trying to win basketball games…We don’t have guys that are complacent champions…We’ve got really f—-ing hungry winners.”

 

Griffin continued “The cocoon we can put around our young guys, they’re going to grow in an environment where winning matters, with the types of human beings I would want them to model.”

The Pelicans signed Redick to a two-year deal. Griffin has done nothing but praise Favors, who chose the New Orleans Pelicans over several other contending options. Favors will likely receive a multi-year offer after the season.

 

Griffin is already picturing that future, planning for it, but he knows that will mean some tough decisions soon. Holiday is under contract for a few more years, Reddick for two, and Zion is not an unrestricted free agent for another seven years, barring CBA changes.

Griffin knows “Jrue, JJ and Derrick are gonna be the ones that teach these kids what it is today. You hope it’s something that continues to feed itself…If you start there, and Zion is just one of that ‘recruiting class,’ then what you hope, if you get really lucky, if you’re successful, they become our Tim [Duncan], Manu [Ginobili] and Tony [Parker] that lay the groundwork for what it means to be one of us 11 years from now.”

 

Bringing back everyone on expiring deals would push the team on the precipice of the luxury tax if not beyond. Therefore, Griffin will look to find more value on longer contracts.

 

The Pelicans have future draft picks to add to any potential trade. The Pelicans salary sheet is incrementally balanced; mixing and matching salaries to complete trades for a high dollar star is possible.