New Orleans Pelicans: We have seen enough to predict a J.J. Redick trade

J.J. Redick was one of two notable veterans that the New Orleans Pelicans brought in this summer and he may not even last a season in the Big Easy.

The New Orleans Pelicans have arguably the most exciting young roster in all of basketball. Not only did the team get a solid core of young guys for Anthony Davis, as well as a lot of draft capital, but they also got lucky and struck gold in the NBA Lottery and landed Zion Williamson in the 2019 NBA Draft.

The future is bright for New Orleans but the front office still had to focus some on today and how they can help the young players progress as well as build out a full and complete roster.

With that in mind, the Pelicans brought in two notable veterans that both added a new dynamic to the team. The Pelicans traded two second-round picks, which were acquired from the Golden State Warriors, for Derrick Favors and signed J.J. Redick to a two-year, $26.5 million contract.

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Redick was the more notable of the two as he has been a key role player in a lot of playoff teams. In fact, Redick has never missed the playoffs in his career as a member of the Orlando Magic, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers and Philadelphia 76ers.

That is why it was surprising to see him sign with a young team that might not make the playoffs in the Western Conference. While there is still hope, an 0-4 start is not promising when the difference at the end of the season will be splitting hairs.

Redick will probably keep that playoff streak alive regardless of if the Pelicans make the playoffs or not, though, as we have already seen enough to predict that he will be traded this season.

This is something that we pondered before the year as a possibility and after just four games there is enough evidence to confirm the suspicions.

The main reason why is the emergence of the guards on the Pelicans’ roster. Nickeil Alexander-Walker was fantastic in the preseason and earned more minutes in the rotation than expected.

More notably, Josh Hart has really been phenomenal this year and has been really good while Jrue Holiday has been out. Hart is averaging 16.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game this season.

Yes, it is a very small sample size but NBA fans did get a taste of this here and there when Hart was a Laker when the team gave him his chances. He has been given the chance in New Orleans and has already taken his ball and ran with it.

Plus, once Jrue Holiday and Zion Williamson are healthy, the Pelicans can easily remove Redick from the rotation. Zion will go to the four, Brandon Ingram will go to the three and Holiday will start at the two.

The team would then have Hart, Alexander-Walker and Frank Jackson, who has been good as well, adding backcourt depth. Kenrich Williams and Et’Wuan Moore can provide minutes at the three and Derrick Favors could help at the four with Jahlil Okafor and Jackson Hayes helping at the center position.

The New Orleans Pelicans should hold onto Redick until the trade deadline as he does provide a valuable veteran presence, but if the opportunity to trade him opens, the team should not pass it up.

There is going to be some desperate contending team (perhaps like the Los Angeles Lakers) that is going to need a three-point specialist to make a title-run.

And at that point, J.J. Redick provides more value in a trade than he does sticking around on the New Orleans Pelicans.