New Orleans Pelicans trade rumors 2016: Will Ryan Anderson be burning threes with Raptors after trade deadline?

The New Orleans Pelicans may be dealing with a heavy heart after the trade deadline as teams who are in a serious contention for the playoffs are seeking the services of Ryan "Flamethrower" Anderson.

The 6-foot-10 power forward, who signed with the Pelicans in 2012, is adept at both stretching the floor and crashing the boards. Anderson will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season and it is most likely that the Pelicans' management will move the prototypical stretch four at the cutoff trading date in order for them to cut their losses. The Pelicans are on the 12th spot in the Western Conference with a 20-33 win-loss record, and still placing Anderson on their tab for next year will only take up the lion's share of the salary for next season, which has already been devoted to marquee player Anthony Davis. For the 2015-2016 season, Anderson will make a base salary of $8.5 million, according to Spotrac.

For someone who comes off the bench for the Pelicans, the 2012 NBA Most Improved Player can easily find space to do his damage albeit also exploiting the fact that Davis gets to be double-teamed when both are playing together on the floor. The streak-shooter, be it in broken-play threes or mid-range twos, averages 16.9 points per game with a torrid .386 3-point field goal percentage, according to Basketball Reference.

Anderson's number had been called upon for a potential destination by several basketball managements on their radar, which include Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Miami Heat, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, and Memphis Grizzlies.

The Toronto Raptors seemed to have the most appropriate trading pack that the Pelicans could actually listen to. A potential trade scenario, according to The Bird Writes, will have the Raptors freeing themselves of one of their bulked-up first round picks, power forward Patrick Patterson and shooting guard Bruno Cabolco, who has been wasting his time on the bench.

The basketball team from up north have clawed their way up to the second spot of the Eastern Conference and have, for the past two seasons, never gone past the second round of the playoffs. If an inevitable clash for the East trophy would mean duking it out with the juggernaut that is Lebron James and his Cleveland Cavaliers, then an augmented line-up with Anderson will match the three-point volleys by the Cavaliers' J.R. Smith and Kyrie Irving.