re: tOFFICIAL Pelicans Trade deadline Discussion thread

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New Orleans Pelicans: The Pelicans still like the idea of surrounding Anthony Davis with a bruiser; they've gone back and forth with the Bucks about Greg Monroe, sources say. New Orleans' roster is pretty bare going forward, and the team might feel pressure to salvage something from this disastrous, injury-riddled season.

The Pels and Rockets once flirted about a Ryan Anderson-Omer Asik swap, and the Pelicans now have both to send to Houston in exchange for Howard. But the Pelicans are sifting through a pile of potential Anderson offers, and teams have gotten the impression that Dell Demps, the New Orleans general manager, may not have the freedom to toss in a first-rounder after dealing three picks for Jrue Holiday and Asik. Other teams have offered to slap top-of-the-lottery protections onto New Orleans' 2016 pick, but that hasn't swayed the Pelicans, sources say. Teams are also confused about whether Mickey Loomis, a top executive for Tom Benson's New Orleans Saints, has the final say over Demps.

Anderson has drawn a ton of interest, considering his abysmal defense and approaching free agency; dude might earn $20 million per year on his next deal, and some teams would run from that contract. Detroit and Sacramento both hope to sign him in free agency, sources say, but the teams are deciding whether it might be safer to acquire him now and gain that fifth-year edge in the July auction.

Anderson thrived in Orlando under Stan Van Gundy, Detroit's coach, and he grew up around Sacramento. The Pistons badly want to make the playoffs after a seven-year wait, and they've shown some willingness to at least talk about dealing a protected 2016 first-rounder.

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