The New Orleans Pelicans have emerged as a serious player for Jaylen Brown, and they are not treating the pursuit like a standard offseason check-in. The team is open to major roster movement to make a deal happen, with only Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen described as fully off limits in trade talks.
That is why Brown is suddenly in the middle of New Orleans chatter now. The Pelicans are coming off a mixed season and are preparing for a seismic summer with the draft and free agency looming, a setting that has them looking hard at how to create maximum flexibility around a move for a player who could change the ceiling of the roster immediately.
Fears and Queen matter because they were both named to the Kia NBA All-Rookie Second Team in the 2024-25 season, giving New Orleans two young pieces it is protecting even as it explores a blockbuster. Everything else appears to be in play, including veterans and future assets, if the Pelicans decide Brown is the target worth chasing.
Sources close to the situation said a potential offer would center on Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III and significant draft capital, while Jordan Poole, Jordan Hawkins and Kevon Looney are being used as expiring salary-matching chips in upcoming negotiations. That kind of package would give the Celtics the talent and financial fit they would need to even consider moving Brown, whose value on the market has made him a constant part of trade chatter this summer, including in separate reports that have tracked the same theme around Boston.
The part that complicates New Orleans' thinking is Zion Williamson. A team source said the Pelicans prefer to keep Williamson, but they are not married to him if moving him helps land Brown, a line that captures both the team's desire to hold onto its centerpiece and its willingness to go farther than expected for a deal it believes can reshape the franchise.
For now, the question is not whether the Pelicans want Brown. It is whether they can build a package strong enough to force Boston to listen without crossing the two names New Orleans has drawn the hardest line around.
