Zach Harper in The Athletic Grades Our Offseason - D+

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Transactions: Traded Eric Bledsoe | Traded Lonzo Ball | Traded for Tomas Satoransky | Sign-and-trade for Devonte’ Graham (four years, $47 million) | Sign Jose Alvarado to two-way deal

Did Pelicans improve here? They really did not improve and got a lot worse with their lead guards, in my opinion. I’m not the biggest Bledsoe fan, but I really like the presence of Ball on this team and the potential of what I believe he’ll become in the next few years. To replace that with Satoransky and Graham doesn’t really make sense to me. Ball is a slightly better 3-point shooter than Graham over the last two seasons. He has a much higher effective field goal percentage. Graham is a much better free-throw shooter over those two years, but Ball improved from 56.6 percent two years ago to 78.1 percent last season. If that holds, Ball is just a flat-out more efficient player. They have similar assist-to-turnover numbers, and Ball is a much better defender.

Is that worth an extra $35 million? Maybe not if you think Ball has maximized his potential, but he’s younger than Graham and just a lot better. Graham’s strengths aren’t higher than what Ball gives you. Hopefully, Satoransky can fill in well, and Williamson is likely to be the team’s main playmaker anyway. I just hate the Graham deal for them when you consider it cost them a future (protected) first-rounder too.

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Transactions: Sign-and-trade for Garrett Temple (three-year deal) | Re-signed Josh Hart (three years, $39.7 million) | Drafted Trey Murphy III with 17th pick | Drafted Herbert Jones with 35th pick | Re-signed Didi Louzada (four-year deal) | Signed Daulton Hommes to two-way deal

Did Pelicans improve here? The Pelicans got a little better here. We didn’t see a huge change, other than re-signing Hart and drafting a couple of guys with nice potential. Hart’s deal is pretty in line with a third guard you’d want coming off the bench for you. He’s a great intangibles guy, and his 3-point inaccuracy the last three seasons just doesn’t seem real. He should be much more around the 39.6 percent he shot as a rookie in Los Angeles than the 33.6 percent he made the last three seasons. Murphy is an excellent wing to throw into the mix. He’s a ridiculous outside shooter. Jones isn’t much of a shooter, but he’s a good playmaker on the wing. Acquiring Temple as part of the Ball deal should help with some much-needed veteran leadership for this young core.

Ingram is still their best wing, and they’re going to continue to rely on him to lead this perimeter attack and help complement Williamson as much as possible. Not a bad role for an All-Star from two years ago.

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Did Pelicans improve here? They did not. James Johnson left in free agency to go play for a ring in Brooklyn. While the Pelicans have made changes at the other position groups, they haven’t grabbed any new forwards as of right now. They’re going to try to surround Williamson with a bunch of shooters and versatile players. Wenyen Gabriel remains at the position as well.

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Transactions: Traded for Jonas Valanciunas | Traded Steven Adams | Re-signed Willy Hernangomez (three years, $7.3 million)

Did Pelicans improve here? While I’m not certain Valanciunas is absolutely better than Adams, I do like the fit for him on the team better than that of his predecessor. Valanciunas can stretch the floor a little bit. Don’t expect Marc Gasol and him letting it fly from deep on a regular basis, but Valanciunas is good for about one attempt per game from outside the arc. He doesn’t take a lot of midrange shots, but he can make those as well. Mostly, he likes to be in the post and around the rim to use his scoring touch. Maybe he can be a solid passer with Williamson cutting. Defensively, they won’t lose much, if anything. They brought back Hernangomez on a steal of a contract, and they’re still hoping Jaxson Hayes develops into a guy to steal some minutes away.

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They did not. I really don’t like New Orleans’ offseason. I think the Graham deal is pretty bad. His strength is shooting from the outside, and he’s not even better than Ball at it the last two seasons. He does take a higher volume than Ball, but Ball was still taking more than seven per game. There has been more instability with the organization than I would have assumed when David Griffin took over, even as their star player was forcing his way out. They lucked out with getting Williamson right away, and Griffin made a great deal with the Lakers. Now? It feels like they’re losing all of their good veteran influences, and whether or not it’s fair, the whispers and ticking clock with Williamson are only going to get louder. The Valanciunas pickup is good, and they retained Hart at a good price. But it feels like the Pelicans are praying the downgrade in talent is overcome by better fits around Williamson and Ingram.

Also, the Pelicans replaced Van Gundy with Willie Green after just one season. Green is a highly respected assistant coach getting a crack at patrolling his own sideline. If he can relate to the Pelicans’ young core a lot better and get them to buy in, then maybe the improvement comes from within, rather than through acquisition.

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