At the NBA trade deeadline, the Pelicans acquired CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell from the Trail Blazers. In return, the Trail Blazers received Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker (who was later traded to the Jazz), Tomas Satoransky (who was later traded to the Spurs), Didi Louzada and draft compensation.
The picks? A 2022 protected first-round pick and two second-round picks.
Full trade, per sources:
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 8, 2022
Blazers: Josh Hart, Tomas Satoransky, Nickeil Walker-Alexander, Didi Louzada, 2022 protected first-round pick, two second-round picks.
Pelicans: CJ McCollum, Larry Nance, Tony Snell.
Let's take a look at what this trade means for both teams with some trade grades.
Pelicans trade grade
McCollum is one of the league's better shooting guards. His numbers are down slightly this season, but he's averaged 21.7 points per game on .455/.397/.830 shooting splits since the 2015-16 season. He's become a high-volume 3-point shooter during that time, and while he doesn't get to the rim much, he's an elite midrange scorer.
Although McCollum, 30, isn't on the same development timeline as Brandon Ingram, 24, and Zion Williamson, 21, he has the potential to complement the two of them well offensively as a shooter and shot creator.
Williamson, of course, has yet to play a game this season, but McCollum is under contract through the 2023-24 season. The two of them will eventually share the court, whether it's this season or next. Until Williamson returns, McCollum is better suited to take some of the playmaking burden off of Ingram's shoulders than Hart, Alexander-Walker and Satoransky were.
McCollum won't help the Pelicans much on the other end of the court — he's never been known for his defense and New Orleans currently ranks 20th in defensive efficiency — but the boost he gives them offensively should help the Pelicans separate themselves from the Trail Blazers, Spurs and Kings, each of whom are currently on the outside looking in on the Western Conference Play-In race.
The player who will help the Pelicans defensively? Nance.
Nance was one of the league's most disruptive defenders last season, averaging a career-best 1.7 steals to go along with 0.5 blocks per game. He's versatile enough to play power forward alongside Jonas Valanciunas and center next to Williamson when the Pelicans downsize. He's also a capable 3-point shooter and solid passer. Him being included in this deal takes some of the sting out of losing Hart, who has developed into a valuable role player, even though he's currently sidelined with a knee injury.
There's a chance Snell is only on the Pelicans for the rest of this season, but he gives them a 3-and-D player on the wings in the short term.
Grade: B+
CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr., Tony Snell contract details
McCollum signed a three-year, $100.0 million extension with the Trail Blazers in 2019. He's on the books for $30.9 million this season, $33.3 million in 2022-23 and $35.8 million in 2023-24. He is set to be an unrestricted free agent in the 2024 offseason.
Nance Jr. is making $10.7 million this season and $9.7 million next season. Snell is making $2.4 million this season and will be an unrestricted free agent in the offseason.
Trail Blazers trade grade
The Trail Blazers are now planning to fully reshape their roster around Damian Lillard, per Wojnarowski.
This trade helps them in that regard by creating a $20.8 million trade exception and opening up quite a bit of cap room in the offseason. According to ESPN's Bobby Marks, the Trail Blazers now have only $68.6 million in guaranteed contracts for 2022-23.
The trade clears the books for Portland in 2022/23
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) February 8, 2022
Portland has only $68.6M in guaranteed contracts next year.
$28.3M in partial/non-guaranteed contracts (Bledsoe and Hart) https://t.co/LmabVLirw4
We'll have to wait and see what the Trail Blazers do with that trade exception and cap space — some of it will likely be used to sign Anfernee Simons to an extension, but they should still have enough space after that to be players in free agency — which is what makes this trade difficult to grade for them in wake of it being reported.
It doesn't help that more moves could be on the way. As The Athletic's Jason Quick pointed out, the Trail Blazers now have a total of nine guards on their roster.
Of 15 players on Blazers roster, nine are guards (Lillard, Simons, Bledsoe, Hart, Smith Jr., Satoransky, Johnson, McLemore, Alexander-Walker). Gotta imagine more moves ahead ...
— Jason Quick (@jwquick) February 8, 2022
At the very least, this deal gives Portland more options than it had six months ago. Additionally, Hart is a good pickup who can play next to Lillard or be flipped for another player and/or picks, Alexander-Walker has shown flashes since being selected with the No. 17 pick in the 2019 NBA Draft and they picked up multiple picks (one first-rounder and two second-rounders).
It feels like the Trail Blazers could've gotten more for McCollum had they decided to trade him a year or two ago, but they did better in this deal than the Norman Powell one.
Grade: C+
