The Pelicans have spent the last two years trying to walk a line between winning now and building for later, and that tension is already showing up through three games. On one side are the veterans and core pieces like Dejounte Murray, Zion Williamson and Trey Murphy. On the other are Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, two sophomores who are being asked to grow up fast.
So far, the results have been uneven.
Fears came into the season after a strong camp and preseason and earned a starting job. But the early returns have been rough.
In three games, he’s averaging 8.3 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 29.0/18.2/83.3. The scoring has been inefficient, the playmaking hasn’t been sharp enough, and the turnover count - six against four assists - tells the story.
The backcourt pairing with Murray has also been clunky. Both guards want the ball, and the fit has not come together yet.
Fears hasn’t done enough damage away from the ball, and the touches he has gotten haven’t been productive. Defensively, he’s been targeted in every game and hasn’t been generating turnovers at the level the Pelicans need.
None of that changes the bigger picture on Fears as a talent. It just means his current role isn’t working cleanly right now.
He has even been pulled late in the last two games, despite the coach’s desire to stick with the starting lineup. The hope is that things settle down, but the first three games have made it obvious that some adjustments are needed.
Queen’s start has gone in the opposite direction. He wasn’t carrying huge expectations into the season, and defense was always the main question.
He hasn’t turned into a stopper, but the effort has been there and the improvement has been noticeable. Against the Denver Nuggets, he even came up with a couple of clutch defensive plays late.
Offensively, Queen has been steady: 13.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game on 52.2/33.3/93.3 shooting. He’s posted a plus-8 so far and has won his minutes in every game. For New Orleans, that’s exactly the kind of return they need.
His workload is only getting bigger, too. With Yves Missi out for an unknown amount of time, Queen’s responsibilities are rising. He and Missi are not the same player, but the Pelicans need Queen to keep producing in a larger role than they expected at this stage.
In Other News...
Pelicans 0-3 Start Is Raising Bigger Questions Than Late-Game Execution
The first three games have left New Orleans with an 0-3 start, but the bigger concern is that the Pelicans have been competitive enough to make the losses sting. Late-game execution has been part of the conversation, yet the problems have spread wider than one possession here or there, with inconsistent clutch-time offense and a few key players not finding their rhythm. Dejounte Murray and Jordan Poole have both struggled with their shooting, which has made it harder for the Pelicans to turn decent stretches into wins.
Trey Murphys role in those crucial minutes has also become a point worth watching, especially after he was productive earlier against Denver before barely getting a look in the closing stretch. Add in the uncertainty around Bennedict Mathurins early fit and the teams issues with allowing second-chance points despite a respectable defensive rebound rate, and the picture is less about a bad finish than a roster still searching for the right answers. The Pelicans have shown enough to stay in games, but not enough yet to suggest the closing problems are the only thing holding them back. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Already Have A Herb Jones Problem They Cant Ignore
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Jones has spent the first three games in a very different spot than fans are used to seeing him, and the reasons appear tied to more than just defense. The Pelicans have also been searching for more offensive balance and cleaner spacing while their shooting has sputtered, which puts the staff in a tricky spot as it tries to find the right lineup mix without sacrificing what Jones typically brings. [Read more 🡒]
Saddiq Bey Is Forcing A Pelicans Rotation Decision Early
Saddiq Bey has wasted little time making the Pelicans think about the shape of their early-season rotation. Through New Orleans first three games, he has scored in double figures every night while doing it in fewer than 24 minutes per game, giving coach Jamahl Mosley a useful kind of problem for October: a wing who is producing efficiently without needing a featured role.
The bigger question is where those minutes come from, and the answer is not simple. Lineup combinations that include Bey, Bennedict Mathurin and Dejounte Murray are now part of the conversation, with the staff weighing how much offense the group can sustain and whether the defensive tradeoffs are worth it. Bey has done enough to earn a longer look, but the Pelicans still have to decide how aggressively to reshuffle the rotation to make room for him. [Read more 🡒]