The New Orleans Pelicans have heard it all season: the team needs to trade Ryan Anderson. After all, if they expect to become a true contender, they cannot let valuable assets like Ryan Anderson simply walk out of the door. That’s where the problem arises, though; just how valuable is Ryan Anderson?
The answer is probably something fans of the Pelicans don’t want to hear. While the allure of a stretch four is something that would seem to draw in a number of teams, Ryan Anderson excels at nothing else besides scoring. His defense, long derided by fans and analysts alike, is so poor that, even when taking his elite offensive skills into account, he has been a net negative for the Pelicans both last season and this season, according to basketball-reference’s offensive and defensive rating numbers.