The New Orleans Pelicans will win a championship in the 2020s

The New Orleans Pelicans had to suffer losing one of the best players in the league in Anthony Davis and are still the future of the NBA.

The New Orleans Pelicans had to do something that can destruct most NBA fanbases: trade one of the best players in the league. Typically, when this happens, it leads to nothing but bad things for the franchise and causes a drought for years to come.

There was legitimate fear of that happening when it was first reported that Anthony Davis wanted out of New Orleans. The Pelicans were built around him and without him the team showed that there really was not all that to get excited about in the future.

Obviously, the Pelicans would get pieces in return for trading Davis, but you never know in the NBA. Players can drastically lose their trade value when they are in the situation that Davis and the Pelicans were in.

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All those worries are now cast aside as even without Davis, the Pelicans are arguably in a better position in the long-term and are absolutely primed to be the future of the NBA.

The team managed to pick the low-hanging fruit that was the Los Angeles Lakers: a team that was desperate for a second superstar and was willing to trade three young core pieces in Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart as well as a ton of draft capital.

Ingram is an all-star-caliber player and might make that jump earlier than most expect, Ball is a great all-around guard that is a future All-Defensive player and Hart is a solid role player that will find his niche as a bench guy in the NBA.

The Pelicans then flipped a lot of the draft capital that the Lakers sent in return for more capital. When it was all said and done, the Pelicans ended up with Jaxson Hayes and Nickeil Alexander-Walker with the eighth and 17th overall picks, respectively.

Hayes is going to have an impact right away and was one of the best centers in the entire draft class while Alexander-Walker is a guard with a lot of upside that could have the kind of role that Hart has in the somewhat near future.

It does not stop there as the Pelicans have the Cleveland Cavaliers’ top-10 protected pick in 2020 that will eventually roll over, their own pick in 2020, as well as a slew of draft picks from the Lakers that all have their own unique protections.

That right there is enough to build a team either through the draft or with the picks’ trade value. It helps that the Pelicans also have one of the most exciting rosters in the league.

Now, the New Orleans Pelicans absolutely got lucky with this one but the team was able to get the first overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and landed Zion Williamson, which instantly kickstarted the rebuild.

Say what you will about all the great things the Pelicans did this summer, Zion just fell in their lap.

So right there, the Pelicans have a future All-Defensive point guard, a near all-star caliber two-guard in Jrue Holiday, a potential 2019 all-star in Brandon Ingram, the best rookie since LeBron James in Zion and a pick and roll maestro and veteran in Derrick Favors.

It keeps going as the second unit’s backcourt consists of Hart and J.J. Redick along with E’twuan Moore, Jaxson Hayes and Jahlil Okafor as the standouts. Alexander-Walker could even find himself as a bench three if the Pelicans need it.

That is a strong group of guys that are not only talented right now but are undoubtedly going to get significantly better with time. This team is going to start out good in 2019 and age like a fine wine, and before you know it, the Pelicans will be hanging a championship banner in the 2020s.

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Yes, we are that serious about the New Orleans Pelicans. Not only are they the team of the future, but they could also potentially be the NBA’s next dynasty, just waiting for this current age of superstar duos to boil over.

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