With December 15th approaching fast, the NBA trade season is almost here. If you are unfamiliar with the significance of the 15th, that is the day when the majority of the free agency additions teams made this past offseason become trade eligible. This opens the door for teams with hopes of contending or making a playoff push to improve their rosters well before the February 5th trade deadline.
With this date approaching, media outlets and NBA media personalities really start to work overtime when it comes to creating mock trade proposals, and Jose Alvarado’s name keeps popping up. Although Alvarado is trade-eligible already, now is the time of the season when teams start to look to make moves.
Bill Simmons, in a recent episode of the Bill Simmons Podcast, mentioned Alvarado as someone both the Detroit Pistons and the Minnesota Timberwolves should be targeting via trade. Simmons highlighted that he can run both teams’ second units and can bring a ton of havoc off the bench as a gritty defensive spark plug. This also comes after Brett Siegel of HoopsHype reported earlier this season that teams around the league were showing strong interest in Alvarado.
Alvarado has an extremely tradeable contract at $4.5 million, and the Pelicans could flip him into some young assets and picks to help build their future.
Alvarado is too much of a winner for this current Pelicans team
This season, Alvarado has been electric for New Orleans and a major factor in all three of the Pelicans’ wins. Overall, this season, Alvarado is averaging 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 3.0 assists while shooting 38 percent from three. But in the Pelicans’ three wins, his production jumps dramatically. In those three games, he’s averaging 15.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.3 steals, while also shooting 42.9 percent from three on seven attempts per game.
Alvarado’s ability to come in and impact the game in a way that alters the entire result of the game is why he is so valuable to contenders. Now, I’m not saying he can impact a game the way someone like Steph Curry can, but coming off the bench, Alvarado can give the team a massive boost and sway a game back in their favor.
For the Pelicans, who are 6.5 games back of a play-in spot and sporting a Western Conference-worst 3-22 record, keeping Alvarado would be a disservice to him and the team.
For all five years of his career, Alvarado has embodied the city and been a glue guy for this team, but it’s time for him to go down that road for a team with championship aspirations. For the Pelicans, acquiring some young talent and draft capital for a player the organization signed as an undrafted free agent would be a positive return.
