Will Pels Gamble On Asik Pay Off Next Season?

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The New Orleans Pelicans have to be good now, because they're going to feel the sting of their most recent acquisition later.

For the second straight summer, the Pelicans addressed a present need at the expense of a future asset.

Last time around, they moved a pair of picks (No. 6 in 2013, No. 10 in 2014) for former All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday. Wednesday, they found a man for the middle, agreeing to a trade for stonewall center Omer Asik in exchange for a future first-round draft pick, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports reported.

Sources told ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst that the 2015 first-round selection will belong to the Houston Rockets if it falls between Nos. 4 and 19.

Initial reaction to the deal has been mixed. Most like the player New Orleans received, and some don't have a problem with the price:

https://twitter.com/MikePellissier/statuses/482206555350126593

Others, like ESPN Insider Kevin Pelton (subscription required), are worried about the way the Pelicans have mortgaged their future for a present that could be simply mediocre:


Assuming it ends up inside the 4-19 range, the Pelicans' 2015 first-round pick will be the third in a row they've traded, joining 2013 and 2014, which both went to the Philadelphia 76ers on draft night a year ago. This is a bad way to build a basketball team. First-round picks are valuable assets because they offer up to four years of cost-controlled production at rates that are, on average, far below market value. By contrast, the players New Orleans has acquired (Jrue Holiday last year, now Asik) are paid what they're worth, relatively.

Asik's contract status only elevates the risk the Pelicans are taking.

The big man is entering the final season of his current contract. He'll count as an $8.3 million cap hit, but he'll actually collect a balloon payment of nearly $15 million due to the way his deal was set up with the Houston Rockets.

Considering the price the Pelicans could potentially pay in this trade, they need to make sure Asik is more than a one-year rental. If he's part of New Orleans' long-term plans, this acquisition makes a lot of sense:

https://twitter.com/MasonGinsberg/statuses/482121162634174466

Asik doesn't have the deepest bag of tricks in the league, but he has the skill set to scratch some of the franchise's biggest itches.

First, that involves lightening the load on rising superstar forward Anthony Davis. It's hard to quantify his importance for the Pelicans' present and future, other than to say his fingerprints should be left on every transaction the organization makes.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2110843-will-new-orleans-pelicans-gamble-on-omer-asik-pay-off-next-season