The Pelicans were definitely a dark horse early in the season, having played first in the West for a time after welcoming Zion back. However, the successive injury attacks still destroyed the Pelicans' championship dream this season, but it is undeniable that the Pelicans' strong forward reserve will definitely become their capital for their future re-emergence, and I believe that if the Pelicans can strengthen in the offseason, then they will most likely become a championship team.
Recently, the well-known American media "NBA Analysis Network" gave opinions to Pelicans management, they believe that the Pelicans should contact the Boston Celtics this summer to seek to trade Brown, one of the two prospects. The specific trade details: The Pelicans send McCollum and three first-round picks in 2024, 2025 and 2027 in exchange for the Celtics' Jaylen Brown.
For the current Celtics, there are still a lot of benefits to reach this deal. This season, the Celtics continued to build the roster with the double scout as the core, and brought in Brogdon in the offseason, and Brogdon's performance did not disappoint the Green Army, playing the best sixth-man level this season. Brown has also maintained his usual high level of performance, and he remains the team's most consistent player in high-level competitions. In contrast, Tatum has a lot of problems these days, especially in key moments of the game, where he habitually drops the chain.
In fact, Tatum has improved a lot this season, whether it is his basketball skills or court judgment, Tatum has made great progress, we can often see that Tatum on the court can choose the way to handle the ball in a short time. However, compared to the improvement at the basketball level, Tatum's mentality does not seem to have grown much. Tatum has been invisible many times this season when the team is behind, and knowing that he is the team's top scorer and the team's recognized leader, such a performance cannot be justified.
At a time when Tatum can't be the player on the team to take over the game at a crucial moment, Brown's presence is precious. As you can see from last year's Finals, Brown is a more decisive, confident and calm player than Tatum. When the team is in trouble, Brown can often rely on his personal ability to solve the game and help the team through it, and he has done it more than once.
On the Pelicans' side, the biggest problem that troubles them is injuries, but fortunately they are young enough to have enough time to recuperate and continue to fight for the championship. This season's Pelicans roster is very age-friendly and has a very strong leadership core, and all players on this team can do their part, making it a promising upstart team. Therefore, while seizing the opportunity to strengthen themselves in the offseason, the Pelicans also need to do a good job of preventing the loss of good players on the team.
If Brown can join the Pelicans, the first thing he brings to this team is a wealth of playoff experience and strong individual strength. From the perspective of game effect alone, the Pelicans lack a stable ball holding point, especially when it comes to key moments, and almost no players can calmly handle the ball. Although the team's main Zion has a strong scoring ability, his breakthrough-based scoring method also makes him vulnerable to opponents in key periods. So the arrival of Brown could be a good solution to that, and as the league's top key ball master, Brown is the best player for the Pelicans.
And McCollum's arrival is also a lot of benefits for the Celtics, although compared to Brown, McCollum's ability is slightly worse, but as an All-Star-level guard, McCollum has proven that he is capable of playing high-level games in the playoffs last year, and I believe that the combination of him and Tatum can also allow Tatum to gradually adjust his mentality and eventually assume his leadership responsibilities. What do you think about that? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.