Pelicans Are In Serious Trade Talks With Sixers For A Game Changer

The New Orleans Pelicans are in talks with the Philadelphia 76ers about acquiring Jahlil Okafor. If the Pelicans get Okafor that will provide help off the bench for starting Center Anthony Davis. New Orleans is 21-33 in the season and with the All-Star break coming up and soon after that the trade deadline, on February 23rd, in which the Sixers will most likely have traded Jahlil Okafor before then.

Pelicans Center and all-around scorer and remarkable defensive threat Anthony Davis, who was selected first overall by the New Orleans Hornets in the 2012 draft, is ninth in the league in minutes played in a game averaging 36.1 minutes a game. Davis might be 23 years old but Davis has had his share of injuries, on March 20,2016 he was ruled out for the rest of the season with a left knee injury and a torn labrum in his left shoulder. The star center started the 2017 season with a  50-point, 16-rebound, 7-steal (career high), 5-assist, 4-block performance against Denver, which looked promising for the New Orleans, with a very young roster the Pelicans have a bright future if the front office can keep the talent they already have. The addition of Jahlil Okafor would be a huge asset to the Pelicans and it would ease the work load of Anthony Davis and hopefully prevent any other season ending injuries.

Jahlil Okafor, a 6 foot 11 inch big man from Duke, got drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 3rd overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft. Okafor played in 53 games in 2015, he averaged 17.5 points/game and 7.0 rebounds/game in 2015, Jahlil is a dominant force in the paint with extreme athleticism for a man his size and great ball handling skills in the paint. Both, Anthony Davis and Jahlil Okafor can play center and power forward so that combo on the court could be hard to stop and will open up the perimeter shooting that the Pelicans need to improve on, they are shooting 33% from three point line this season.

New Orleans drafted Buddy Hield sixth overall in the 2016 draft. Hield won the 2016 Naismith Trophy winner as the nation's top college basketball player as he averaged 25.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game for the Oklahoma Sooners last season. A native of the Bahamas, Buddy Hield is known for his excellent shooting ability and his "Mamba" mentality, Hield has said his role model growing up was Kobe Bryant and you saw that in Buddy's game in college. Hield will shoot the ball until he is comfortable and when he gets comfortable...he gets scary. Buddy Hield is still get comfortable in his rookie season only averaging 8.7 points per game and is only attempting 8.4 shots a game. Buddy Hield will become comfortable and when that time comes in the next year, the rookie will become a game changer and help the Pelicans make a push for a playoff spot in the next few years.

It is not if New Orleans will get Jahlil Okafor...it's what will they have to give up for Okafor. Reports are saying the Sixers want a first round draft pick and more for their former first round pick out of Duke. The Pelicans would likely send Alexis Ajinca to Philadelphia in the trade also a first round draft pick, in which if the season ended today the Pelicans would have a lottery pick and Philly would love to have another lottery pick to help build the future of the 76ers.