Report: Wesley Johnson Traded to Pelicans from Clippers for Alexis Ajinca
The New Orleans Pelicans acquired veteran forward Wesley Johnson from the Los Angeles Clippers for backup center Alexis Ajinca, ESPN.com's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Monday.
According to Wojnarowski, the Clippers will waive Ajinca and 2017 second-round draft pick Jawun Evans as they trim their roster to 15 players for their opening game Wednesday against the Denver Nuggets.
ESPN.com's Bobby Marks noted the Clippers and Pelicans are in a race against the clock to finalize the deal:
Los Angeles saves a little bit of money with the trade. Johnson will make a little over $6.1 million in 2018-19, compared to $5.2 million for Ajinca.
New Orleans, meanwhile, adds to its wing depth, which was a clear hole on the roster, without losing much. The Pelicans signed Jahlil Okafor in August, which bumped Ajinca down to the third center option and made him expendable.
Johnson, meanwhile, could fight for backup minutes at small forward behind E'Twaun Moore. The 31-year-old averaged 5.4 points and 2.9 rebounds for the Clippers in 2017-18, and he shot 33.9 percent from beyond the arc, which is almost equal to his career average (33.7 percent).
This move may not seem significant, but depth has been one of New Orleans' biggest problems in recent years. General manager Dell Demps has generally built strong starting lineups around star Anthony Davis, but there was a clear gulf when the Pelicans had to go to their bench.
Demps will have a hard time executing the kind of trade that makes the Pelicans a serious title contender. Getting Johnson is the kind of thing that should help New Orleans earn a playoff spot in the competitive Western Conference.
