Pelicans-Grizzlies Trade Grades: Four Players On The Move

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the New Orleans Pelicans are sending Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, a future second-round pick, and a future second-round pick swap to the Memphis Grizzlies for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson.

The main reason for this trade is pretty simple: New Orleans needed to clear salary before officially adding Bennedict Mathurin on his two-year, $16.0 million deal. Because the Pelicans are using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign him, they can’t finish above the first apron afterward, so they had to open enough room under that line first. Memphis is basically getting paid to help the Pelicans clean up the payroll, and I think the Grizzlies did very well here.

The Trade

Memphis Grizzlies Receive: Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, future second-round pick, future second-round pick (swap)

New Orleans Pelicans Receive: AJ Johnson, Taj Gibson

Hawkins is making $7.0 million this season, and Peavy is at $2.2 million, so New Orleans moves roughly $9.2 million in salary. Johnson costs only $3.2 million, while Gibson’s $3.8 million salary isn’t guaranteed yet, so he’s gone from $0 to $200K in the trade, as the Pelicans are likely to waive him. Mathurin’s first-year salary will be about $7.8 million on the two-year deal he agreed to last month.

Memphis Grizzlies Grade: A-

I really like this for Memphis because I don’t see what they gave up that should hurt them. AJ Johnson is still only 21 and was the No. 23 pick in 2024, so I understand keeping some value on the name, but the actual NBA product has been rough. He averaged 3.3 points, 1.1 rebounds, and 1.0 assists in 48 games last season, shooting 32.4% from the field and 21.1% from three.

Taj Gibson is 41 years old and averaged 3.4 points and 2.7 rebounds in only 10 games last season. I love Gibson, but we’re obviously not talking about an important basketball asset here. Memphis turned those two players into two younger wings and added draft value on top of it.

Jordan Hawkins has disappointed, let’s not pretend otherwise. The former No. 14 pick averaged only 5.1 points in 13.6 minutes last season and shot an ugly 36.6% from the field, but he still made 34.8% from three and has one NBA skill worth betting on: he can shoot it with volume when he’s confident. He is 24, on an expiring contract, and now gets a fresh situation with a Grizzlies team that should have plenty of minutes available during a rebuilding season.

Peavy might honestly be an underrated piece because he is cheap and under team control. He averaged 4.3 points, 1.9 rebounds, and 1.0 assists as a rookie. The shooting was bad at 38.5% from the field and 25.9% from three, but Memphis gets multiple years to see whether a 6-foot-7 wing can develop without paying much money. His $2.2 million salary is guaranteed this year, with a non-guaranteed season and team option afterward.

Then Memphis gets a second-round pick and another second-round swap, which I really like. The Grizzlies are rebuilding after moving Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., and several veterans over the last year, so this is exactly what they should be doing: use the room to take chances on young players and make the other team include draft picks for taking on their unwanted salaries.

Maybe Hawkins still isn’t good, and Peavy never becomes more than a 12th man. Memphis barely cares, because Johnson wasn’t producing either, and Gibson wasn’t part of the future. For me, an easy A-.

New Orleans Pelicans Grade: B-

I don’t hate this nearly as much for New Orleans as the package might look at first, because there is one important thing we can’t ignore: Mathurin is much better than the players they just moved.

The small forward averaged 17.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in 54 games between the Pacers and Clippers last season, and New Orleans got him for only two years and $16.0 million with a player option in Year 2. If clearing Hawkins and Peavy is what finally lets the Pelicans finish that signing, then I can live with it without any care.

Hawkins wasn’t part of the rotation anymore. He played 51 games, started once, averaged 5.1 points, and his supposed main skill wasn’t even elite last season at 34.8% from three. The Pelicans already have Jordan Poole, Dejounte Murray, Jeremiah Fears, Trey Murphy III, Saddiq Bey, and now Mathurin needing perimeter minutes, so I don’t really know where Hawkins was supposed to play.

Peavy is cheap, and I would’ve preferred keeping him because wing depth on a low salary always has value, but he wasn’t exactly forcing New Orleans to play him either. Four points per game on 25.9% from three isn’t something I’m losing sleep over.

Johnson is at least another development swing. I don’t love him; the shooting has been terrible through two seasons, but he is 21 instead of Hawkins being 24, and New Orleans can take a look at the former first-round pick without needing him to play immediately. The reason this doesn’t get an A or even a strong B from me is that the Pelicans had to attach a second-round pick and a swap just to fix their own salary cap issue.

The Mathurin signing makes the final result much better, but Memphis still took advantage of the situation, so I give New Orleans a B-. They got the flexibility they needed, Mathurin is clearly the best player connected to the whole sequence, and losing Hawkins or Peavy shouldn’t be any damage.