The New Orleans Pelicans may be headed toward another crossroads this season, but Saddiq Bey is no longer a name they can easily toss into a deadline deal.
Bey’s recent three-year, $55 million extension comes with a six-month trade restriction, according to Yossi Gozlan on a recent episode of the Third Apron Podcast. That matters because the Pelicans are entering the 2026-27 season after a 26-win campaign and have made only minimal changes to the roster, aside from bringing in a new head coach. If things go sideways again and the front office decides to pivot hard by the deadline, Bey will not be available as part of that sell-off.
That would leave the Pelicans looking elsewhere if they decide to shake up the roster. Trey Murphy III, Zion Williamson, Herb Jones and potentially Dejounte Murray would be the names to watch in that scenario.
For now, though, Bey has effectively joined Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears on the list of players New Orleans is expected to keep. And while some will see that as a missed chance to flip him at peak value - especially if he produces around the 17.7 points and 5.6 rebounds per game he posted last season while shooting 36.7 percent from three - there’s another side to this.
Since arriving in New Orleans, Bey has reportedly taken to the city and the organization quickly, something the franchise has not always been able to count on. That kind of buy-in can matter, particularly for a team that may need stability if it leans into a younger core.
Bey also brings the sort of presence front offices often chase only after they realize they need it: a professional voice, a steady locker-room influence, and a player who can help set a tone as the roster turns over. In an NBA landscape where the league’s new anti-tanking rules don’t reward simply crashing to the bottom, keeping a dependable veteran around may be more useful than clearing him out.
There’s also the basketball fit. If Bey can stay near last season’s three-point output, he gives New Orleans the kind of spacing that plays next to Queen and Fears. His ability to line up at the two, three or four gives Jamahl Mosley some flexibility in how he arranges the rotation.
So while the Pelicans may have lost a deadline chip in Bey because of the restriction, that could end up working in their favor. If the season turns into a direction change, he may be exactly the kind of player they need to keep things from unraveling.
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Zion Williamson Just Got Another Harsh Reminder Of Where He Stands
Zion Williamsons place in the league hierarchy got another cold check this week, with ESPN slotting him No. 51 in its projected player rankings for the 2026-27 season. For a player once discussed as a franchise-changing force, that kind of placement speaks to how much the expectations around him have shifted, even after a season in which he appeared in 62 games and averaged 21 points, his lowest scoring mark to date.
The projection still points to a productive year ahead, with ESPN expecting Williamson to post 22.8 points, 6.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists. But the bigger picture is harder to ignore: he has not been an All-Star since 2023, and the league seems increasingly focused on whether his paint scoring can outweigh the concerns about spacing and defensive impact enough to keep him safely in top-50 territory. [Read more 🡒]
Trendon Watford Faces A Pelicans Battle He Has To Win
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The pressure points are easy to spot. Watford still needs to tighten up his rebounding and become more consistent from three-point range, and those are the kinds of details that matter when roster spots and minutes are up for grabs. His partially guaranteed deal means nothing is settled yet, so camp will be more than a tune-up for him. It is a battle for security, one he has to win before the Pelicans can count on him as anything more than a candidate. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Are Heading Into A Rare Spotlight Fans Should Notice
The Pelicans are heading into a stretch of international attention they do not often get, with both of their regular-season games against the San Antonio Spurs overseas already sold out. New Orleans will play in Paris on Jan. 14 before meeting San Antonio again in Manchester, England, on Jan. 17, giving the team a chance to showcase itself in two of Europes biggest basketball stages.
The Manchester game carries a bit of history with it, since it will be the first NBA regular-season contest ever played there. For a Pelicans team looking to stay in the conversation beyond the usual grind of the schedule, the exposure matters too, with both games set to stream live on Amazon Prime Video and put New Orleans in front of a wider audience well beyond its home market. [Read more 🡒]