I will admit that yesterday, when I saw Shams Charania of ESPN reporting on X that the Washington Wizards traded Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and the No. 40 overall pick to the New Orleans Pelicans, in exchange for CJ MCollum, Kelly Olynyk and a future second round draft pick, I was in a state of disbelief. Not because Jordan Poole got traded. But because this time of year, there are flurries of news.
Tons.
> The New Orleans Pelicans are trading CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk and a future second-round pick to the Washington Wizards for Jordan Poole, Saddiq Bey and the No. 40 pick, sources tell ESPN.
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> — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) [June 24, 2025](https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1937589524114104829?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw)
But writing this post at 5 a.m. ET after a good night’s sleep gives me a clear head to break the trade down. So here it is.
First, let’s see what McCollum and Olynyk provide the Wizards.
McCollum averaged 21.1 points per game in the 2024-24 season for the Pelicans after finishing his fourth season in New Orleans. Before playing for the Pelicans, McCollum played for the Portland Trail Blazers for nine NBA seasons, working his way up from bench player to being the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2016. I still wonder how he hasn’t been named an All-Star yet.
On Washington, McCollum is expected to replace Poole as their primary veteran perimeter scorer. However, he is also on the second year of a $64 million contract with a cap hit of about $31 million in the 2025-26 season. So even though McCollum will likely start the season as a Wizards player, he will likely be a trade target for playoff contending teams looking to make adjustments at the trade deadline in late January or early February 2026.
Olynyk averaged 8.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in the 2024-25 season after playing for the Toronto Raptors and Pelicans last year in 44 appearances. He has been a consistent rotation big throughout his entire NBA career who can stretch the floor with his shooting. Contract-wise, Olynyk will enter the second year of a $26 million contract he signed with a cap hit in 2025-26 of about $13 million. So like McCollum, Olynyk could be trade bait at the deadline. And in fact, Olynyk was traded in the middle of last season from the Raptors to the Pelicans.
Finally, I should also mention that Olynyk is also known as a “Wizards killer” from the 2017 NBA Playoffs. This was when he made big contributions in the form of 14 points in the fourth quarter of Game 7 of the NBA Eastern Conference semifinals against the Wizards which helped the Boston Celtics, his team at the time, advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Now, Olynyk is on our side.
The Pelicans are likely looking to make the trade for Poole and Bey because both players are just 26 years old. Poole is coming to New Orleans after averaging 20.5 points and 4.5 assists per game for Washington in the 2024-25 season. Furthermore, Poole averaged 3.5 made three pointers while making 37.8 percent of his shots in 2024-25, a career high in both makes per game AND percentage.
Poole also finished his season season with Washington bouncing back after averaging just 17.4 points per game in the 2023-24 season where he experienced a learning curve. His first four season were with the Golden State Warriors, with whom he won an NBA championship in the 2021-22 season.
Bey was on the Wizards last season, but was injured and did not actually playa a game for them. He averaged 13.7 points per game for the Atlanta Hawks in the 2023-24 season.
The draft pick trades here involve second rounders and they won’t drastically change the Wizards’ or Pelicans’ fortunes until we know which players they pick up. And the pick the Wizards get from the Pelicans is not going to be in this year’s draft. We’ll figure that out when the Wizards officially mention the trade.
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.