Embrace the tank: 3 surrender trades Pelicans can make to ensure they land Cooper Flagg

The New Orleans Pelicans are dead last in the Western Conference at 5-25. Probably not what David Griffin and the front office envisioned when siphoning off multiple quality assets to land Dejounte Murray, who so far has been meaningfully worse than Dyson Daniels in Atlanta.

Just about everything that could've gone wrong, has gone wrong. Zion Williamson is once again riding the bench in street clothes due to a hamstring injury. Murray, Brandon Ingram, and CJ McCollum have all missed significant time with injuries. This Pelicans team still has excellent depth on paper, but the pieces just aren't coalescing.

It's easiest to blame Zion. You can't win sustainably if your best player is never available. These injuries are beyond Williamson's control, contrary to whatever narrative is being cooked up on X, but the impact is undeniable. The Pelicans just cannot build a sustainable winning team around Williamson if he's never on the court.

One could argue that it's time to hit the reset button, especially with such a loaded incoming NBA Draft class. Cooper Flagg is the obvious prize for the projected No. 1 pick, with Dylan Harper, Kasparas Jakucionis, and Ace Bailey are among the several high-wattage prospects with the potential to change their NBA franchises.

New Orleans has the ammo to rebuild quickly around somebody like Flagg. Here are a few trades to properly smash the reset button.

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3. Pelicans can send CJ McCollum to the guard-needy Spurs

CJ McCollum's days are numbered in New Orleans. He's under contract through the 2025-26 campaign, but at 33 years old, he has never really aligned with the Pelicans' competitive timeline. Especially with a rebuild feeling somewhat inevitable these days. McCollum's value is limited due to his age and waning production, but there are still teams who would benefit from his balanced offensive skill set.

The San Antonio Spurs stand out as a team in need of backcourt upgrades. The Chris Paul experience has been extremely positive, not to mention Stephon Castle's promising flashes, but San Antonio could use another bonafide bucket on the perimeter. McCollum is the perfect short-term match, comfortable on or off the ball and engineered to thrive in two-man actions with a gravitational magnet like Victor Wembanyama.

McCollum would bring another veteran leader to a young locker room while giving this Spurs team a meaningful boost in a competitive postseason race. One could argue that San Antonio should be mounting its own Cooper Flagg pursuit, but Wemby might be too good to earnestly tank. Sometimes, the future arrives sooner than you expect.

This isn't to say McCollum is going to put San Antonio in the NBA Finals, but he could tack on a few wins in the regular season while spicing up the offense. His movement shooting, secondary playmaking, and occasional crunch-time heroics would all play beautifully in a Spurs uniform.

2. Pelicans can finally trade Brandon Ingram, send him to Rockets

Frankly, with all the uncertainty over Brandon Ingram's future and the muted nature of trade interest to date, New Orleans would be exceedingly lucky to pull more than a single first-round pick from the Houston Rockets. This feels like a slim return for an All-Star with the pedigree of a former No. 2 pick, but an Ingram trade does feel like a matter of when, not if, and New Orleans is a beggar in this marketplace — not a chooser.

Ingram probably isn't the dream star for Houston fans, but he's 27 years old, so the Rockets can feel good about locking him into a three or four-year extension if all goes well. If the price is this low, then it's just worth the risk. Ingram could walk at season's end, but the Rockets gain an immediate edge when it comes to re-signing him, especially if Houston continues to win games en route to a high seed in the playoffs.

The Rockets essentially upgrade Dillon Brooks' spot in the starting five, adding another source of shot creation in the halfcourt. This is generally what Houston needs — another playmaking valve to grease the wheels on an offense that can get stagnant. The Rockets are going to finish the season with a top-shelf defense and plenty of long-term promise, but Ingram's presence might actualize their immediate postseason goals. A 6-foot-8 wing averaging 22.2 points and 5.8 assists on .465/.374/.855 splits, Ingram can connect all sorts of dots for the upstart Rockets.

It's fair to quibble with Ingram's postseason track record to date, but every NBA team is hungry for wings in his mold. Removed from Zion's shadow and more optimized in the presence of a big man passing hub like Alperen Sengun — not to mention the setup skills of Fred VanVleet — we could see Ingram start to reach his ceiling.

1. Pelicans can offload Zion Williamson to the desperate Warriors

So, who actually wants to trade for Zion Williamson at this point? It's unclear. Maybe nobody. And yet, there has to be some interest in the former No. 1 pick, who is a cut-and-dry top-20 player at full strength. Williamson has eclipsed 60 games played just twice in five full NBA seasons, but he's a two-time All-Star with a ceiling that kisses the heavens.

There has been a lot of narrative garbage centered on Zion's mindset and so-called "desire to win." One can validly criticize his work ethic or his poor conditioning without pretending like these injuries aren't 99 percent bad luck. We haven't seen many players with Zion's frame and Zion's explosive athleticism. It's a uniquely combustive combo. This sort of injury plague was always in the cards. Such is life.

If he's healthy, Williamson has the potential to spearhead a genuine title contender. Especially if he teams up with an established winning core, such as Stephen Curry and Draymond Green with the Golden State Warriors. The whiplash between Zion's downhill slashing and Steph's 3-point shooting would be enough to break a defense in half. We know the Warriors can win, to a certain extent, without Williamson. This is already a postseason team. Adding Zion is gravy — and the swing for the fences Steph deserves in his final years.

The Warriors have been trying to add a star since the early stages of last offseason. Lauri Markkanen, Paul George, and Karl-Anthony Towns all fell through. Jimmy Butler is there for the taking, but is committing to a 35-year-old in the final year of his contract the right move when 24-year-old Zion is locked up for the next four years?

Some will view Williamson's long-term contract as a negative, but again, the man is 24. There is so much untapped potential, whether we want to admit it or not. Also of note, Zion's contract includes injury-related outs, so Golden State can theoretically cut bait if circumstances demand it.

The thing about Zion is that he's better than all the names listed above — Markkanen, George, Towns, Butler — if he's operating at full strength. The Dubs may never get that version of Williamson, but on the off chance that Golden State can enter the playoffs with a full-bore Steph and Zion, this trade is worth considering. The Warriors don't want to pay Jonathan Kuminga, Andrew Wiggins is bad money, and a single first-round pick might be all it takes to get a 24-year-old All-Star in the building. Live a little.