The Pelicans are not having a great season, but that won't stop them from being aggressive at the NBA trade deadline this year.
They have plenty of players/assets that teams will ask about, but there might only be a few significant players that they'd actually give up.
One of those players is a young big man, who one NBA insider predicts could be on his way out, in exchange for a skilled 18 PPG scorer.
What player are the Pelicans eyeing down ahead of the trade deadline?
NBA insider Brett Siegel reported that the Pelicans have interest in Pacers forward Ben Mathurin.
In the same report, he mentioned that the Pacers "continue to search the market for potential frontcourt upgrades."
He detailed how, even though the Pelicans made it known that a large number of their best players wouldn't be available on the trade market, a young player like Yves Missi wasn't included on that list.
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Missi seems to fit what the Pacers are in search of, and it already appears that the Pelicans have interest in Mauthurin, which could lead to some sort of trade.
The Pacers aren't playing much better than the Pelicans this year, just a season after making it to the NBA Finals.
Mathurin is averaging a career-high 17.8 points through 24 games this season, which could be appealing to a Pelicans team looking to stock up for the future.
Mathurin is expected to become a restricted free agent this offseason, so he could be in for a payday sooner than later.
Missi still has a couple of seasons until he'd become a RFA, but the Pacers would love to add him as a player with a cheap contract and lots of potential, as they have a center gap to fill after the departure of Myles Turner last summer.
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