The New Orleans Pelicans have taken a quiet approach to the 2026 offseason, and that silence is telling. Joe Dumars’ only free-agency move so far has been bringing back DeAndre Jordan, while the bigger message from the front office seems to be that internal development will do the heavy lifting for a team trying to climb back from a 26-win season.
That puts a lot of weight on Yves Missi.
The starting center spot was one of the clearest areas of need heading into the summer, and the usual offseason chatter around New Orleans centered on whether the team would add a floor-spacing big or a veteran presence in the frontcourt. Instead, Dumars appears to be counting on a year-three jump from Missi to solve the problem.
Missi’s second NBA season was solid, even if the numbers dipped from his All-Rookie Team year. The bigger story was his impact.
He was most effective in a bench role, where he could come in as an energy big and change the tone of a game in short bursts. Asking him to take that same influence and stretch it across starter minutes is a different challenge entirely, and it’s a major gamble for a team that needs wins.
The 21-year-old finished second on the Pelicans in net rating among players who appeared in at least 50 games, trailing only Herb Jones. That lines up with what showed up on the court: whenever Missi checked in, New Orleans usually got a jolt in rim protection and energy. Interim head coach James Borrego leaned on him for shot-blocking, lob finishes, and quick-impact minutes when the team needed a spark.
But that version of Missi is not the same as a full-time starter next to Zion Williamson.
He’s still a raw player who needs a lot of work. The size and athleticism are there, but his basketball IQ, screen-setting, offensive touch, and defensive awareness are all only okay right now. Even if he’s spending the offseason tightening those areas, that’s a lot to ask of a young center, and it could complicate his development if the role gets too big too fast.
New Orleans could have tried to ease that burden the way it did last offseason, when Kevon Looney was brought in to share starting-center duties with Missi. That path is off the table now, and the options at the five are thinner than ever. Derik Queen is another possibility, though the defensive pairing of Queen and Zion is obvious for all the wrong reasons.
Missi absolutely can become the Pelicans’ starting center down the line. The question is whether asking him to be that guy right now is too much, too soon. If it is, Dumars and the Pelicans may find out the hard way.
In Other News...
Pelicans May Finally Have A Real Answer Next To Zion
The Pelicans have spent the offseason looking for sturdier answers in the frontcourt, and the conversation naturally circles back to Zion Williamsons fit with a true center beside him. Daniel Gafford has emerged as the kind of name that makes sense on paper for New Orleans, a rim-running, shot-blocking big who brings recent production and a more defined interior presence than the team has had to lean on at times.
Gaffords value is easy to see in a Pelicans context because he offers the sort of paint protection and finishing touch that can simplify everything around Zion. New Orleans still has to sort out the bigger picture of how it wants to build up front, but the idea of pairing Williamson with a dependable center has become one of the more practical threads of the summer, and it is the kind of search that can shape the rest of the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Another Bad Start Could Put The Pelicans Core On Notice
The Pelicans are headed into next season with much of the same roster after last years 26-56 finish, and that alone keeps the pressure on a group that was supposed to be pushing toward the Wests middle tier. There is still enough talent on hand to make this a team worth watching, but there is also a real sense that the front office is running out of patience if the results do not start matching the promise.
Trey Murphy III sits at the center of that conversation because he is the kind of young, valuable piece a team can actually move if it decides a reset is coming. If New Orleans stumbles again, the question is not just whether the core can survive another rough season, but whether the organization starts treating some of its best assets as the foundation for a different kind of rebuild. [Read more 🡒]