The New Orleans Pelicans have found a taker for Jordan Hawkins as the team traded him to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of a four-player deal.
The Pelicans sent Hawkins, Micah Peavy, a second-round pick, and a second-round pick swap to the Grizzlies for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
“The New Orleans Pelicans are trading Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, a future second-round pick and a future second-round pick swap to the Memphis Grizzlies for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson, sources tell ESPN,” Charania wrote on X.
Pelicans Dump Salary in Trade
The Pelicans traded Hawkins and his $7 million salary for this coming season, plus Peavy and his $2.1 million salary, for Johnson and his $3.2 million salary and Gibson and his $3.8 million non-guaranteed salary.
By dumping salary in the trade, the Pelicans will duck below the luxury tax threshold and still be able to sign Bennedict Mathurin to a reported free-agent contract.
It’s a nice bit of maneuvering by the Pelicans’ front office, which will add a really solid player in Mathurin at the cost of trading away two young players in Hawkins and Peavy who didn’t appear to have roles with the team for this coming season, plus the small price of a second-round pick and a second-round pick swap.
According to ESPN’s Bobby Marks, the Pelicans will need to guarantee a small portion of Gibson’s salary to make this trade legal before they can cut him.
Peavy’s contract, meanwhile, can go into the trade exception that was created when former Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant was dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers earlier this summer.
“To make the trade structure work, the Gibson salary protection increases from $0 to $200K. Johnson ($3.2M) + Gibson ($200K)= $3.4M $3.4M x 200% + $250K= $7,124,240 (amount of Hawkins) The Peavy $2.1M salary goes into an exception,” Marks wrote on his X.
Grizzlies Take Shot on Young Players
For the Grizzlies, this trade with the Pelicans gives them a chance to see what they have with Hawkins, the 14th overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, who didn’t pan out as the prospect New Orleans thought he would be when they took him with their pick three years ago.
However, he will have the chance to get more minutes with the Grizzlies, so it was worth taking a flier on him and seeing if he can finally live up to his potential in Memphis.
The Grizzlies also picked up Peavy, who was taken 40th overall in the 2025 NBA Draft and played in 61 games for New Orleans in his rookie season. He was going to be blocked in New Orleans but should get more minutes in Memphis if they decide to keep him.
Memphis could always end up cutting both Hawkins and Peavy if they want and just accumulate the two draft assets that they picked up in this deal, but it feels like they should at least give both guys a chance to see how they look in training camp before they make a decision on them.
Pelicans Find Taker for Jordan Hawkins