Kristaps Porzingis remains one of the biggest question marks for the Golden State Warriors heading into free agency, with the Latvian looking for a new deal just months after being acquired in a bombshell mid-season trade with the Atlanta Hawks.
The Western Conference rival New Orleans Pelicans are one team who could have interest in stealing Porzingis from the Warriors' grasp in free agency, likely as a last-ditch effort to salvage Zion Williamson's very underwhelming tenure at the franchise after being the number one overall pick in 2019.
Pelicans may target Kristaps Porzingis in last-ditch Zion Williamson move
Despite plenty of speculation over Williamson's future and possible trade scenarios in recent years, the Pelicans seem adamant on continuing to build around their franchise star after managing to appear in 62 games this season.
New Orleans have struggled to find an effective front court pairing for Williamson over the years, potentially leading to interest in Porzingis this offseason according to Chris Lambert of Pelican Debrief recently.
"With Zion Williamson expected to slot in at the Pelicans power forward spot next season, having a rim protector and floor spacer next to him would change everything," Lambert wrote. "Zion's two biggest weaknesses are his inability to space the floor and his poor defense. Bringing in Porzingis could address both problems."
Porzingis would make a lot of sense for the Pelicans in theory, giving Williamson a front court teammate who can space the floor and allow the 25-year-old to further take advantage of his interior dominance.
However, the idea might be just that -- an idea rather than reality. Williamson and Porzingis are two of the most-injury/health prone players in the entire league, leaving a strong chance that we'd never actually see them on the floor much together.
Pelicans might be wary of stealing another Warriors center
New Orleans might also be wary of targeting another Warrior center, having done so nearly 12 months ago when they lured Kevon Looney away from the Bay on a two-year, $16 million contract in free agency.
That deal looked like considerable overs from the moment it was announced, and so it proved given Looney failed to have any impact for his new team, appearing in just 21 games and being out of the Pelicans' rotation for the majority of the season.
Porzingis is far better and remains a productive NBA player, but his long injury and health history suggests the Pelicans may be making a mistake were they to offer a considerable contract that proved enough for the 30-year-old to depart the Warriors.
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