re: Why don’t we just keep everything and see what happens

This is the first potential move in along time where I've been fine with whichever route Griffin and Langdon decide to go in. I think we have enough young talent, depth and future high picks that we can afford to take a swing on a rookie at #4.

But Aaron Gordon and Myles Turner are both monsters. If either team would trade them to us for #4, I'd be happy with that as well. There's not a potential outcome thats been tossed around, that I haven't liked so far. I have full trust in our FO to make the right call. They've earned out trust.

Looking at the free agent class, I'm kind of leaning this way also..

#1 of course take Zion

#4 trade to Atl for #8,17 and they take Hillone of Garland, Hayes, White, Hunter, Culver will be there

At 17 get a draft and stash

If we keep Moore we have around 32 million in cap space, trade him off and we have a little over 40

My 1st free agency target would be D'Lo, 2nd option Brogdon

Next I go after Dedmon or Brook Lopez, or any stretch 5 that can give us 15-20 minutes a game

I would put Ball as the best 6th man in the NBA and let him have control over the 2nd team much like we tried to do last year with Payton (if we get Dlo)

Starting 5
DLo/Jrue/Ingram/Zion/Lopez or
Ball/Jrue/Ingram/Zion/Lopez

Backups
Ball/Hart/Culver/Kenrich/Wood or
Brogdon/Hart/Culver/Kenrich/Wood

Closing 5
Dlo/Jrue/Hart/Ingram/Zion or
Ball/Jrue/Brogdon/Ingram/Zion

I think DeAdre Hunter will be the best available as #4. Take him and trade the bums we got from LA and get a proven pure shooter or a big.

Bums? Lol...

But I’m warming up to Culver at 4 guys.

Work ethic off the charts. High character guy. He fits the new culture we are trying to instill in this franchise.

He can be a great 2 way player

I guess the argument against it would be not wanting to be too young? Lonzo, Ingram, Diallo, Frank, Zion, #4 are all 22 or younger.

The Pelicans will have plenty of young talent, even without any pick following Zion. Establishing a winning culture with some vets 25+ might be worth shipping some assets out.

Stepien Tier Rankings:

Tier 1: Zion

Tier 2: RJ and Culver

Tier 3: Ja, Clarke, Porter

Tier 4: Hayes, Horton-Tucker, Coby, Hunter, Goga, Reddish, Williams, Langford, Garland, PJ Washington, Porter, Bol, Nickeil

LINK

I haven't seen a trade I like for the 4th pick yet.

I like Turner, but he has a lot of question marks to me. I've been harping on the fact that he's an extremely poor rebounder and that's a very poor fit next to Zion who isn't great himself, but the bigger thing for me is his position. Not sure I want to use such an asset to acquire a center. The days of playing centers 35 minutes a night are gone and I think you're better off if you sign 2-3 semi cheap "bigs" with different skill sets.

And trading back, especially 8 and 17. No chance. You lose to much value moving from 4 to 8, and 17 itself doesn't hold much value. Plus you're looking at 3 rookies on the roster, not including the 2nds we already own. I would much prefer to just keep 4.

Portland had a very effective big rotation

I meant just in general, having a poor rebounder isn't ideal next to Zion. Turner does a lot of things that make him appealing next to Zion, but there are things that make him less desirable as well. His poor rebounding is a big one.

I don't see how you can trade the 4th pick, which is a very good asset in my opinion, and spend it on a guy that has such a glaring weakness next to your superstar.

I also wouldn't trade the 4th pick for a center, but that has less to do with Turner the player and more his position.