1. Did the New Orleans Pelicans give up too much for Tyreke Evans (and Jeff Withey) by sending Robin Lopez and Greivis Vasquez to the Kings in the sign and trade?
Michael McNamara: In my opinion, no. Look, they were going to have to waive or trade Lopez any way just to be able to extend the offer sheet to Tyreke and Greivis Vasquez had no place on this roster with all the guards we have here now. You can argue that maybe you could have traded those two elsewhere and called Sacramentos bluff. Maybe they would have chose not to match and you get Tyreke plus a late 1st round or 2nd round pick in that scenario. But is it really worth risking losing Lopez and Evans? I dont think it is; not for two of the slowest players I have ever seen in a Hornets uniform. New era, moving forward; goodbye lead feet, hello speed!
James Grayson: No. Both players values are at their peak. Greivis Vasquez was due an extension following this season and was bound to be overpaid. Robin Lopez is on an excellent contract, but was never going to be a part of this core moving forward. I love both of these players, but to add the next piece to the puzzle, you have to give something up.
Michael Pellissier: No. I love the attitude and energy Vasquez and Lopez brought to our team, but they are role players, and you cast those aside in a second to grab someone you believe can make a difference on the team. We have plenty of other options at guard and there is no reason we cant find someone cheap to provide a watered-down version of what Lopez did.
Mason Ginsberg: In a vacuum, yes, but in the grand scheme of things, no. First of all, making this move is FAR better than Tyreke signing the Pelicans offer sheet and hoping that the Kings dont match. The result of that could have been swapping out Robin for pennies on the dollar and Tyreke staying in Sacramento. Making this move gives the Pelicans cap space to make subsequent moves to complete the roster, and that is key. The fact that the team also added Withey cannot be overlooked, either. He was a player projected to be drafted as early as right around pick 20 who ended up sliding into the second round, and yet he could very well be the Pelicans starting center (though only getting 10-15 minutes) on opening night.
Jason Calmes: Absolutely not. Lopez and Vasquez outperformed all expectations, and the tendency is to that think that increase will persist ad infinitum, or at least consider the possibility that some buried talent treasure is somewhere in there. Likely, teams will have adjusted to their newfound level of play, and the improvement will be stifled. The Pelicans now have two assets who will likely be of at least equal production with who could very well be undervalued. They also gave up some cap flexibility in the future, which should not be understated. Overall, however, worth it for the Pelicans.
Joe Gerrity: Could Dell likely have gotten better value had he traded Vazquez and Lopez independently without a timeframe? Sure, but thats not the reality of the NBA. He has time and cap constraints that require him to make moves in less of a timeframe than may be ideal. Im OK with things going down as they did.
