The Pelicans have stumbled to a 0-3 start, and the frustrating part is how familiar it feels. Each of their first three games offered a late opening to steal a win, and each time they let it slip away. That kind of closing problem isn’t new for New Orleans, either, after last season’s 12-30 mark in clutch situations.
Amid all that, the biggest surprise from the first week has been Herb Jones’ reduced role. Jones finally entered the season healthy after two injury-riddled years that limited him to 76 games, and the expectation was that he’d be back in the mix as a steady, disruptive presence.
Instead, his minutes have been trimmed all the way down to 17 per game. He has come off the bench in all three contests, while Mosley has chosen to lean on second-year guard Jeremiah Fears alongside Dejounte Murray in the backcourt.
That decision has looked especially odd when the fourth quarter arrives. New Orleans has been getting burned late, allowing opponents to average 36 points in the final period alone.
Guard play has been a particular problem. In the season opener, Tyrese Haliburton scored 13 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter, while Jones logged just one minute in that frame.
Then on Saturday night, Jamal Murray poured in a game-high 42 points, and Jones was limited to 16 minutes overall.
The case for Jones is pretty straightforward. He was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team in 2022, and he was the only non-forward/center on that team.
Since entering the league in 2021, New Orleans has posted a +8.6 net rating with Jones on the floor, according to Databallr. The defense also improves by +3.6 when he’s out there.
So why the lighter workload?
One possible answer is that Mosley wants more offensive flexibility. His time in Orlando drew criticism for sluggish offense, and his best Magic team finished 18th in offensive rating.
Jones, meanwhile, has struggled from deep over the last couple of seasons, hitting just 30% of his threes. Since the Pelicans as a group already have issues stretching the floor, that may be part of the thinking behind the reduced role.
But New Orleans keeps running into the same problem: the defense isn’t holding up when it matters most. Mosley’s strongest seasons in Orlando came when his teams were top-3 defensively, and the Pelicans found their best results under Willie Green when they were top 6 on that end.
If Mosley is going to lean into what he does best, the answer starts with defense - and that means getting Jones back into meaningful late-game minutes. Teams have already targeted Fears in crunch time to create advantages.
For a team that needs stops badly, leaving an elite defensive wing under 20 minutes a night doesn’t feel like a workable long-term plan. Whether it’s in the starting five or on the floor to finish games, Jones’ role should grow as Mosley keeps reshaping the rotation.
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 🡒]
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 🡒]
Pelicans Already Face A Tough Sophomore Balance
The Pelicans opened the season trying to do two things at once, win games and keep their two sophomore big pieces moving in the right direction. Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen are both part of that balancing act, but they are arriving there in very different ways, which is exactly what makes this early stretch worth watching in New Orleans.
Fears has had the harder adjustment, with his efficiency and comfort in the role still a work in progress, while Queen has looked more settled and has earned more responsibility. Queens growth has been most visible on defense, and with Yves Missi sidelined, his minutes and usage have naturally climbed, giving the Pelicans a clearer picture of what they have in him while the bigger questions around Fears remain unresolved. [Read more 🡒]