The New Orleans Pelicans are sending the message that, if any team wants to trade for their core players, they'll have to pry them out of the franchise's cold, dead hands. I'm not sure why a 10-35 team that doesn't own its own first-round pick is being so stingy, but to each their own, I suppose.
Even with the Pelicans' strange approach to the deadline, the Portland Trail Blazers should badger the Pels' front office about Herb Jones, whose defensive disruption skills would fit perfectly into the Blazers' lineup and give Tiago Splitter another real defensive stopper next to Toumani Camara.
Whether Herb Jones would start alongside Deni and Toumani, sending Jerami Grant back to a sixth man role (where he was thriving) or if Jones himself serves as a sixth man is a question we'll figure out if the time comes. But Jones would bring this team's defense from middling (currently No. 17 in defensive rating) to stingy — he's that much of a presence himself.
Herb Jones is the type of player the Blazers have been searching for
The package for Jones would likely need to be significant. New Orleans — whether it makes sense or not — appears hesitant to deal Jones, so a first-round pick would probably be the starting point. Jones for the expiring contract of Matisse Thybulle and two future first-round picks (likely protected to an extent) does work, for the record.
Jones is under contract until at least 2028-29, and has a $24 million player option for 2029-30. I know two first-rounders sounds like a massive price to pay, but adding an elite defender in his 20s on a team-friendly contract with multiple years to go is an incredibly valuable asset to add.
If Sidy Cissoko, Rayan Rupert, or Kris Murray become Herb Jones, that would be a big win for the Blazers. Instead of hoping that happens, I think the team should simply go acquire Herb Jones.
It's obviously not that easy. If it were, some team would have done it by now. Jones is a game-wrecker on defense, who is essentially wasting away on a Pelicans team that's as far away from competing as a team could possibly be. And for anyone wondering if he's an unnecessary player to add when the team already has Toumani Camara manning a similar role, I understand. But in an era where defense is increasingly more difficult to play, possessing multiple high-level stoppers is more valuable than ever.