Although teams don't seem to have much cap space this summer, there is still a lot of player turnover before the draft. We have seen Desmond Bain being sent to the Orlando Magic, Kevin Durant heading to the Houston Rockets, and Ju Holiday being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers. Now, we can add the New Orleans Pelicans and the Washington Wizards to this trading drama.

Our reporter Josh Robbins confirmed that the Wizards have agreed to trade Jordan Poole, Sadiq Bay and the 40th pick in this year's draft to the Pelicans in exchange for CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynick and a future second-round pick.

This is another seemingly unclear deal in the past week, but we can analyze this swap of the shooting guards in depth and give some comments and ratings:

The Wizards won McCollum, Olynick and a future second-round draft pick for the Wizards, analyzing the deal seems to start from two aspects.

First, this brings a lot of salary flexibility in the short term. By trading Poole for McCollum, the Wizards cut their guaranteed salary for a year from their books. Poole has two years left on his contract, and McCollum will enter the final year of his contract in the 2025-26 season. As of now, after next season, the Wizards' biggest long-term guarantee contract on the books is the $13.9 million that needs to be paid to Corey Kispert in the 2026-27 season, and the $13 million he will receive in the 2027-28 season.

Almost all other players in the current roster will either expire in the summer of 2026 or hold a rookie contract. Thanks to the deal, the Wizards went from one of the worst contractual situations in the league (stricken by Bradley Bill’s untradeable terms) to having about $100 million in cap space in the summer of 2026. Of course the premise is that the Wizards will no longer add any long-term contracts now. In addition, they have expired contracts from McCollum, Marcus Smart, Olynick and Chris Middleton, which the Wizards may trade on the trade deadline to acquire more assets, which will be key.

In today's league, cap space is often used to take over junk contracts with draft assets rather than signing players directly at All-Star or big names. The Wizards are developing a very good and promising core lineup, which already has Alex Sal (20), Bilal Coolibari (20), Carlton Carrington (19) and Kay Sean George (21). The Wizards also have the 6th and 18th picks in this year's draft, so they can get some pretty talented players. The rebuilding Wizards are step by step reaching out to teams that need to sell junk contracts to avoid triggering a terrible luxury tax, which could mean the opponent needs to get a first-round pick for it.

Secondly, there is also a potential aspect of the role of a mentor. For quite some time, McCollum has been regarded as one of the better veteran leaders in the league. Even when McCollum first entered the league, he was considered a full-time player. McCollum holds a leadership role in the American Basketball Players Association, and his joining should provide more leadership, leading the team’s young core with Middleton and Smart. The Wizards know that they will be a team with poor performance on the court and won't be too high in winnings. But their youthful energy can fill them with a lot of highlights, and they are finally in a position where they can rebuild in a flexible way, just like a good team usually does. Assuming the Wizards can use the cap space properly, clearing the cap space seems like a no-think decision.

Rating: A-

The Pelicans won Poole, Bay and the 2025 No. 40 draft pick

This is a part of this trade that I feel a little incomprehensible. Poole has always been a player with mixed reputations. He was an interesting and quite important role player in the Golden State Warriors' 2022 championship journey, and was also the one who was boxed by Draymond Green when the Warriors' atmosphere became bleak. Poole became a typical example of slack attitude in the league in his first season with the Wizards, and then quietly played another solid season in the 2024-25 season. Poole has the talent for scoring and outside projection, and perhaps in a more organized and competitive environment, what he needs to maximize his skills and efforts.

I'm not sure if switching McCollum with Poole is the kind of upgrade the Pelicans think is. Because Poole's guarantee contract will be an extra year, and he is a player with great ups and downs. Even in Poole's best season with the Warriors, his form was erratic between being extremely efficient and completely cold. The Pelicans do need players who can play healthy, and Poole has done that for most of his career. Poole missed 14 games last season, but several of them were at the end of the season when the Wizards had no reason to let him play. In addition, Poole missed only eight games in the previous three seasons.

Sometime next season, when Dejunta Murray recovers from an Achilles injury, they can have Poole partner with him in the backcourt. When Zion Williamson is able to play, the Pelicans can also let Poole help him open the field. Poole can partner well with Trey Murphy III. And maybe an important part of this deal is that the Pelicans believe they can get a player who can contribute with the 40th pick in a very promising draft, after all, this year, the rotation level should still be available at the end of the second round..

Assuming Williamson is still in the Pelicans' future plans, this will be an expensive team. I don't know if the Pelicans have room to really bring in new members for the core lineup of Williamson, Poole, Murphy and Murray, although handling the 7th pick in this draft will be worthy of their chances for a bad season. There are many things to figure out, but at first glance, this is a salary planning operation and a puzzling operation at the basketball level.

Rating: C+

Author: Zach Harper

Translator: GWayNe