The Pelicans’ latest four-player deal with the Grizzlies may have done more than just clear up roster and salary cap space. It also might have cracked the door open for Jordan Poole.
New Orleans sent shooting guards Jordan Hawkins and Micah Peavy to Memphis and got forwards AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson back. On paper, that’s a move about flexibility. In practice, it changes the look of a crowded backcourt, and that matters for Poole.
Before the trade, the Pelicans had stacked enough shooting guards to make Poole feel like an afterthought. The depth chart was so jammed that he was even a candidate to be waived just to free up a roster spot and give him a shot to play somewhere else.
That no longer looks quite so inevitable. The lane still isn’t wide open, but it’s at least there now. Poole could have a path to minutes off the bench if things break right.
A fully healthy roster probably still leaves him on the outside looking in. But that kind of clean bill of health is hardly a safe bet in New Orleans, where injuries have been a constant problem over the last few seasons. That reality is the most obvious route for Poole to get on the floor.
The challenge is that Poole has to give the Pelicans a reason to keep him in the mix. He’s a gifted scorer, but his game doesn’t always slot neatly into a team’s offensive structure, and he doesn’t bring much else beyond points.
His 2024-25 season did him no favors. Poole averaged 13.4 points per game, his lowest mark since his sophomore year with the Golden State Warriors. The shooting numbers were rough, too: 37 percent from the field and 33 percent from three-point range.
That puts real pressure on training camp. Poole has to perform well there and win over new head coach Jamahl Mosley, especially with the final season of his contract ahead. A stronger effort on defense would help his case, too.
That’s where the Pelicans’ trade may matter most. Micah Peavy was brought in partly because of his reputation as a defensive stopper off the bench, and that role is now gone from New Orleans’ rotation picture. If Poole can bring more on that end, he has a chance to make himself useful to Mosley.
The path still isn’t simple. Before the trade, it looked like Poole would need multiple injuries just to see the court. Now, he may only need to move ahead of one player on the depth chart.
If he can recapture even some of the form he showed earlier in his career, Poole could work his way into the Pelicans’ rotation.
In Other News...
Pelicans Just Made Jamahl Mosleys Biggest Roster Problem Even Worse
The Pelicans roster shuffle took another sharp turn with a deal that sent Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, a future second-round pick and a second-round pick swap to Memphis in exchange for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson. The move was tied to managing salary cap space after signing Bennedict Mathurin, but it also trimmed away a player in Peavy who gave New Orleans a defensive-minded option and appeared in 61 games last season.
For a team still trying to sort out its depth and identity, losing that kind of versatile piece can make the margins even tighter. New Orleans did get a pair of veterans back, yet the trade also leaves another question hanging over the roster construction, especially for a staff trying to balance immediate help with the kind of energy and versatility Peavy brought on the wing. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Just Made A Bennedict Mathurin Move Worth Watching
The Pelicans have used their recent trade with Memphis to carve out the kind of roster and financial flexibility that can open doors in a hurry, and one of those doors led to Bennedict Mathurin. New Orleans signed the wing to a two-year deal with a second-year player option, adding a young scorer to a group that already has 14 players on guaranteed contracts, plus a few more on partially guaranteed and two-way arrangements as training camp approaches.
Mathurins path to New Orleans took a strange turn before the contract ever came together. He had been a restricted free agent, then became unrestricted after the Los Angeles Clippers withdrew his qualifying offer with his consent, making him available for a fresh look elsewhere. For the Pelicans, the move is worth watching not just because it fills a spot, but because it suggests they still have room to keep shaping the roster if the right opportunity shows up. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Face A Rotation Problem Talent Alone Cannot Solve
Training camp has a way of making every roster look deeper than it will feel once the games start counting, and the Pelicans are staring at exactly that kind of problem. With several returning pieces and new additions in the mix, the challenge for Jamahl Mosley is less about finding talent and more about sorting through it, especially when the lineup has to hold together on defense, provide enough shooting and take care of the ball.
The pressure point is playing time, because there are only so many minutes to spread across guards, wings and frontcourt options. New Orleans does not just need its best players on the floor, it needs combinations that actually work together, and that is where this gets tricky. A crowded roster can create flexibility, but it can also leave a team searching for the right rotation long after the individual pieces are in place. [Read more 🡒]