Pelicans Young Guard Receiving Trade Buzz From Western Conference Rival

After a strong performance over the weekend, Pelicans guard Jordan Hawkins is already swirling in the latest trade rumors.

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The New Orleans Pelicans are already hearing trade buzz this early in the season.

As the team gets off to a hot 2-1 start, the Pelicans have already been riddled with injuries to begin their season. Both Trey Murphy III and Dejounte Murray have been sidelined as the team looks to get off to a strong start of the season inside a very challenging Western Conference.

Every game is valuable inside the conference, and one missed opportunity to seal a victory could be the difference between you making the playoffs or fighting for a spot in the NBA’s play-in tournament. 

With the injuries already piling up, New Orleans has needed to rely more on some of their bench players to step up on this recent start to the West Coast trip they are on. One of those players is guard Jordan Hawkins. 

Over the past two games against the Portland Trail Blazers, Hawkins has been the team’s best producer off the bench. Since the absence of Murray, who fractured his hand in the season opener against the Chicago Bulls, the former UConn Huskies star has averaged over 20 points per game. 

It appears that the Pelicans are not the only ones noticing the increased production from the second-year pro, as his name has already circulated as a potential trade target from another Western Conference rival. 

Colin Keane of The Sporting News believes the Los Angeles Lakers might attempt to make a trade for Hawkins. However, he admits that the price may be too steep to make a move. 

“The Pelicans wouldn’t let their Western Conference rival Lakers pry away Hawkins for cheap. New Orleans has a need at center and would likely demand former Pelican Jaxson Hayes in the trade for Hawkins, along with a valuable draft pick,” writes Keane.

The Pelicans entered the season at a crossroads. The team has acquired a mixed bag of expectations this season, with most of them relying on what the organization does with star forward Brandon Ingram. The former Laker himself is searching for a contract extension, one that the two sides have yet to find an agreement on. If the team decides to move on from him in the middle of the season, then they will look to retool for the future. 

With that being said, Jordan Hawkins is most likely in the future plans of the Pelicans organization. 

Never say never, but it would take an enormous trade for general manager David Griffin to move on from Hawkins. The front office exercised the third-year team option on him as expected this past offseason for a reason.