A season after experiencing several ups and downs in a rollercoaster year, the New Orleans Pelicans are back to being in the middle of the pack of the Western Conference, with the potential to emerge as one of the best.
As is, the Pelicans have mostly a young group of stars or near-star talents who may still have room to grow as players. One outlier is starting center Jonas Valanciunas, who is the only starter to play in all 28 games, yet is also 31 years old and may not fit into the team’s long-term plans. And unlike C.J. McCollum, who’s 32, Valanciunas isn’t one of the top scorers, even if he is still highly productive.
Valanciunas is in the final year of his contract with New Orleans and is making $15.4 million this season. It’s possible the Pelicans have plans to re-sign the versatile 6-foot-11 Lithuanian.
Yet, there are also rumors of the Pelicans looking into more of a long-term starting center solution in New Orleans.
According to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, Cleveland’s All-Star center Jarrett Allen had drawn widespread interest from playoff-contending teams, and the Pelicans are among the mix.
Allen is still just 25, is two years removed from an All-Star appearance, and is set to make $20 million per season through 2026.
While Allen isn’t quite the rebounder that Valanciunas is (17.5% total rebound rate compared to 20.5%), his career block rate is higher (4% compared to 3.3%).
Of course, Allen also isn’t nearly the scorer Valanciunas is, you won’t see him shoot threes. Yet perhaps that’s a better fit for the Pelicans anyway, allowing more shots to go to Ingram, Williamson, McCollum for now, and eventually Trey Murphy, Dyson Daniels, and Jordan Hawkins.
Either way, whatever the reasoning, the Pelicans have at least looked into the cost of acquiring Allen ahead of the Feb. 8, 2024 NBA trade deadline.
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