Trae Young was traded from the Atlanta Hawks to the Washington Wizards Wednesday night. News of the transaction broke while the four-time All-Star point guard was on the end of the bench in street clothes, still recovering from a quad contusion.

The Hawks dealt their biggest star in exchange for guards CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. And, so, the first domino ahead of the league's Feb. 5 trade deadline fell during a Hawks home game, perhaps ironically against the New Orleans Pelicans, who, according to NBA insider Chris Haynes, aren't trending toward any trade of that kind.

In fact, per Haynes, the Pelicans are telling teams that Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones as well as 2025 first-rounders Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears will remain in New Orleans beyond the deadline.

The 8-31 Pelicans have the second-worst record in the NBA. They fired head coach Willie Green in November, 12 games into his fifth season at the helm. James Borrego, former head coach of the Charlotte Hornets and associate head coach on Green's staff, became the Pels' took Green's place in an interim role.

Currently, the team is suffering through a nine-game skid, crashing back to Earth after a five-game win streak provided a glimpse of holiday hope last month.

New Orleans clinging to Queen and Fears wouldn't be surprising. For one, they're promising rookies. 

Queen is averaging 12.9 points per game, and the 21-year-old center has gone for 20 or more on eight occasions. Along the way, the Maryland product has tallied seven double-doubles and a 33-10-10 triple-double versus the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 8. Fears, a 19-year-old guard from Oklahoma, is averaging 14.2 points per game on 43.3% shooting. He's got eight 20-point games of his own.

Not only are they young and entertaining, but they're also players picked by first-year Pelicans president of basketball operations Joe Dumars.

Dumars inherited the other three players on the list Haynes reported.

Williamson headlines that group.

The two-time All-Star forward's still only 25 years old. If there's a time to sell high on him, it's probably now. The often-injured Williamson has played in 13 straight games. He's started the past six, averaging 24.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1 steal per game while shooting 61.6% from the field in that span.

He's healthy at the moment, and his contract is non-guaranteed for the next two seasons. 

The thought was that the Pelicans could be aggressive at the deadline, moving veteran starters such as Williamson to regain assets. 

New Orleans owes its 2026 first-round pick to the Hawks after going up to get Queen in last year's draft. The franchise doesn't have a second-round pick until the 2030 draft.

And yet, per Haynes' report, it appears the Pelicans could be sticking with their core past the deadline.