A Sneaky-Genius Trade Idea to Fix Two Broken NBA Rosters
Victor Wembanyama, Giannis Antetokounmpo and a leaguewide emphasis on full-court defensive pressure are among the most exciting early stories of the 2025-26 NBA season.
Somewhere further down the list, and only slightly less important, is the disturbing lack of balance on several rosters.
The Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans don't have centers. The Sacramento Kings lack forwards. The Dallas Mavericks are bereft of guards.
It seems like the mandate across the league this past offseason was to accumulate talent without regard to fit. Credit teams for thinking outside the box if you're generous, or ding them for personnel decisions that would inevitably lead to off-kilter, clunky lineups.
Let's fix a couple of obviously unbalanced situations by getting the Pels a big man to address interior defense and rebounding issues while also adding an actual guard to a Dallas team that apparently didn't know it would need someone to dribble this year.
The Trade
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Dallas Mavericks Acquire: Jose Alvarado, Saddiq Bey and a 2028 first-round pick swap (via NOP)
New Orleans Pelicans Acquire: Daniel Gafford
Why Dallas Does It
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Daniel Gafford is easily the top player in this deal, but he's also the Mavs' third-best center—clearly behind Anthony Davis in the short term and nowhere near as valuable as Dereck Lively II on a longer time horizon.
Dallas, then, is dealing from a position of depth to address one that is terrifyingly shallow.
"Cooper Flagg: Point Guard" is a fun experiment that might pay off if it fast-tracks the No. 1 overall pick's development as an on-ball creator. But it's clearly putting the Mavs at an offensive disadvantage in the present—both because Flagg is overstretched in a role that large, and because the lack of shooting and secondary playmaking further ups the degree of difficulty.
Jose Alvarado hasn't been a regular starter in any of his five years with the Pelicans, but he averaged 6.8 assists per 36 minutes last year and has shot above the league average from deep over the last two seasons combined.
That kind of production would represent a major upgrade over what Dallas will trot out at the point until Kyrie Irving comes back.
And if defensive inconsistency is the reason D'Angelo Russell isn't seeing as much time as one might expect, no such issue would arise with Alvarado. His signature skill is on- and off-ball disruption, making him an ideal complement to the Mavericks' defense-first philosophy.
Dallas ranked 28th in half-court offensive efficiency through its first four games. Critically, Alvarado can also pay dividends by speeding up the pace of games, creating turnovers and allowing the Mavs to generate scoring chances outside of those standstill scenarios.
Throw in Saddiq Bey as a floor-spacer who helps the money match and a 2028 first-round swap, and Dallas comes out getting what it needs plus a sweetener for surrendering the best player in the bargain.
Why New Orleans Does It
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Zion Williamson and Derik Queen have had some intriguing moments as the Pelicans' 4-5 combo. Their scoring and shot-creation chops are uncommon at those positions, and the New Orleans offense has racked up 125.5 points per 100 possessions in their 55 shared possessions so far.
As you'd expect from a frontcourt combo so undersized, rebounding and rim protection have been massive issues. Opponents are grabbing 38.2 percent of their own misses against those lineups, a third-percentile figure leaguewide. Overall, the Pelicans are allowing 54.1 points in the paint per 100 possessions, which ranks 25th in the league.
Small-sample caveats aside, this was foreseeable for a New Orleans roster that entered the season with Yves Missi as the projected starter at center and veteran Kevon Looney backing him up. With the former ineffective and the latter injured to start the year, the Pelicans have had nothing in the middle.
Gafford is a legitimate shot-blocking threat and lob-finisher whose anchoring effect on both ends and rebounding prowess would upgrade every aspect of New Orleans' center rotation—even if the other options were healthy and playing their best.
Once he's over his ankle injury, the 27-year-old will pick up where he left off last year, averaging 20.6 points, 11.4 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per 36 minutes while hitting 70.2 percent of his shots from the field.
Alvarado is behind Jordan Poole and occasionally spectacular rookie Jeremiah Fears at the point, and he'll fall even further down the depth chart whenever Dejounte Murray returns from his torn Achilles. Both he and Bey are on expiring contracts, which should make them easy enough to move in tandem.
Before you quibble over the Pelicans giving up a 2028 first-round swap, understand two things: New Orleans desperately needs a center to avoid posting the worst defensive and rebounding numbers in the league, and it clearly isn't averse to risky pick-related moves after the deal that sent out its 2026 first-rounder on draft night.
That ill-fated trade further emphasizes the need for a win-now move like this; the Pelicans have nothing to gain by tanking and have to upgrade the weakest point of their roster.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
