CJ McCollum Trade Rumors: NBA Execs Believe Pelicans Could Listen to Offers on SG

The 2024-25 season has been an abysmal one for the New Orleans Pelicans to this point, and they could look to trade some of their veteran players as a result.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported Monday there are executives around the NBA who think the Pelicans may be "willing to listen" to potential trade offers involving CJ McCollum. One executive also said the team "should move McCollum" and will "likely" trade Brandon Ingram.

That Ingram might be moved comes as no surprise, as he and New Orleans were unable to come to terms on a long-term contract extension during the offseason.

He is now set to be a free agent after the season, and the Western Conference team could get a significant return package in a trade before he potentially would have signed elsewhere.

Yet McCollum is signed through the 2025-26 campaign and remains a productive player.

The guard is averaging 20.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 1.4 steals this season, although he has played just eight games while battling injury. He is one of a number of Pelicans who have missed time this season, which is one reason they are on the bottom of the Western Conference standings at 4-17.

It wasn't supposed to be this way for a team featuring plenty of notable players in Zion Williamson, Ingram, McCollum and Dejounte Murray. But Ingram is the only one from that list who has appeared in double-digit games to this point.

Giving up on what is shaping up to be a lost campaign and moving multiple pieces could allow the Pelicans to reset and continue building around Williamson in the future with more draft picks and younger players.

With that as the backdrop, Scotto questioned whether the 33-year-old McCollum is also a "long-term fit" in the backcourt alongside the 28-year-old Murray when discussing the rumors circulating around the former.

Perhaps those rumors will develop into an actual trade if New Orleans doesn't drastically turn things around before February's deadline.