The OKC Thunder are the top-dogs in the Western Conference standings, while the New Orleans Pelicans find themselves heading toward yet another playoff-less, cellar dweller finish here in 2025-26.
Their vast differences in success rate and long-term trajectory could ironically make them an ideal pairing at this year's deadline.
Simply put, Oklahoma City has far too much draft capital than they even know what to do with, whereas NOLA is seemingly on a collision course with a full-blown rebuild and teardown, which, generally speaking, only benefits from an influx of picks.
With this in mind, Sam Presti and company may want to strongly consider taking advantage of the Pelicans' crumbling situation by offloading lower-end, presumably second-round assets in an effort to bring on 2024 first-round selected big man, Yves Missi.