NBA Draft 2019: Could Zion Williamson And RJ Barrett Still Be Teammates?

Apparently the New Orleans Pelicans haven’t given up on adding RJ Barrett to Zion Williamson to speed up their rebuild: the Pelicans are considering ways to acquire the #2 pick Memphis controls. Apparently the Grizzlies are not as sold on Ja Morant as they were earlier and the thinking is they might consider trading the pick for some of David Griffins’ Los Angeles bounty: Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball and Josh Hart.

Given some of Griffins’ previous comments about Ingram we’d guess he’d prefer to keep him but he still could offer a package with some mix of Ball, Hart, the three first round draft picks and various current Pelicans.

Here’s a scenario: Mike Conley reportedly would prefer to depart Memphis. Maybe they could structure a deal with Conley and the #2 pick, i.e., Barrett, going to New Orleans and Ball and some other asset or assets going to Memphis.

It might be worth it just to see LaVar Ball’s head explode.

Consider this too: if that happened and the Pels kept Ingram, they might go into next season with Williamson, Barrett, Ingram, Jahlil Okafor and Frank Jackson, which would make it pretty much Duke South.