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Nets Rumors: Brook Lopez Drawing Interest From Pelicans

BySandy Mui|
Jan 20, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) is defended by New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Nets defeated the Pelicans 143-114. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 20, 2017; New Orleans, LA, USA; Brooklyn Nets center Brook Lopez (11) is defended by New Orleans Pelicans forward Anthony Davis (23) during the second half of a game at the Smoothie King Center. The Nets defeated the Pelicans 143-114. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

The New Orleans Pelicans are reportedly shopping for a center, and Brooklyn Nets big man Brook Lopez is among the candidates.

With the February 23 NBA trade deadline quickly approaching, rumors have been swirling around the league. The Brooklyn Nets have had rumors surrounding Brook Lopez all season and throughout recent years. In this latest rumor, a specific team was named.

According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, the New Orleans Pelicans are looking to get a center, and are pursuing Lopez.

Currently, New Orleans has three centers on its roster, including two who play forward-center (Anthony Davis and Donatas Motiejunas). Omer Asik is the lone true center on the squad, though aside from Davis, none of the Pelicans’ big men have been impressive.

Asik is averaging just 2.8 points and 5.4 rebounds per game in his third year with New Orleans. Motiejunas is a recent addition to the team and is one of the few players on the Pelicans that can be connected to the Nets (the whole saga with the Houston Rockets prevented Brooklyn from landing Motiejunas). In 14 games with the Pelicans, he’s posting 5.2 points and 3.1 rebounds per game.

RELATED STORY: Three Potential Fits in a Brook Lopez Trade 

It’s likely that New Orleans is looking for a more productive center to complement Davis in the frontcourt. Lopez would be a viable candidate in this sense, though it’s unclear whether the Pelicans possess any assets the Nets would be interested in and whether New Orleans has already discussed a specific deal with Brooklyn. Last week, Keith Smith reported that the Nets are attempting to shop Lopez and Bojan Bogdanovic, but have not yet found a satisfactory package.

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The Nets stand as the worst team in the NBA with just nine wins in 51 games, and the playoffs are far out of the picture for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, the Pelicans are in eleventh place in the Western Conference with a 19-32 record. However, in a rather underwhelming Western Conference playoff race this season, New Orleans is only 3.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets for the eighth seed. Adding a strong offensive-minded center such as Lopez could help push them over the top to secure a playoff spot for the second time in six seasons.

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With little to no hope left for the Nets this season, fans can only hope to see their team make some trades to put them in a better position for the future. This could begin with a Lopez deal, whether he gets sent to the Pelicans or not.

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