The New Orleans Pelicans came into this season with high expectations after sneaking into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference a year ago. But due to injuries and other circumstances they have gotten off to a rough start, as they are 5-16 and near the bottom of the West. The Pelicans clearly realize they need to make some sort of changes if they want to get where they were expected to go, and there are now reports that they are willing to "part ways" with Ryan Anderson, according to John Reid of the Times Picayune.
There was a report earlier in the week that the Pelicans and the Phoenix Suns were discussing a trade that would involve Anderson and Markieff Morris, but the Pelicans have been hesitant to include Anderson in any deals. The Pelicans seem to have switched their thinking, though, as they might have realized that Anderson is unlikely to be part of their future while a guy like Morris would be under team control for longer.
Anderson is currently in the final year of his contract and is making $8.5 million, but he is set for a huge raise in free agency next summer. Some people think Anderson might get max money, or close, and the Pelicans are likely not willing to pay him that much, especially considering they don't figure to have much cap room. Morris, on the other hand, is in the first year of a four-year $32 million contract, so if this trade was made the Pelicans would have Morris under control, at a relatively cheap price, for the next three years.
Anderson is a better player than Morris and is in the middle of a very good season, but trading him is all about the future. The Pelicans have dug themselves a pretty deep hole in the West that will be hard to get out of, so they are trying to set themselves up for future success. Morris is having a bad season so far, but he has been a good player in the league for a while, and having him at a lesser salary would give New Orleans freedom to fill other holes.
There hasn't been word about whether talks between the Pelicans and the Suns have been progressing, but when the report first came out that trade talks were happening, the biggest holdup was reportedly Morris' assault charge and New Orleans' hesitance to trade Anderson. It seems that one of those road blocks has been passed, so we will see if the second one will be passed or if maybe another team jumps into the action on the 27- year-old power forward.
