Jamahl Mosley’s biggest preseason headache in New Orleans isn’t scheme or style. It’s simple arithmetic.
An NBA game gives a team 240 regulation minutes, and the Pelicans already look like they’ve packed more than that into the roster. Eight returning players - Trey Murphy, Saddiq Bey, Zion Williamson, Herb Jones, Dejounte Murray, Jeremiah Fears, Derik Queen, and Yves Missi - combined to average 223.1 minutes last season. Add Bennedict Mathurin in a projected 25-minute role, and New Orleans is already over the limit before Jordan Poole, Bryce McGowens, Karlo Matković, or anyone else gets a look.
The squeeze starts at point guard. Murray played 27.8 minutes a night, while Fears logged 25.8 as a rookie.
Fears should be in line for more in Year 2, but Murray is still a major piece after averaging 6.4 assists in 14 games last season. That could push both players into more time away from the ball, though shifting either one to shooting guard only creates another traffic jam.
That’s because the two-guard spot is crowded too. Jones averaged 28.4 minutes last season, and Mosley will want his defense on the floor.
Mathurin should get at least 25 minutes. McGowens made 40.9 percent of his threes and ought to have a real opportunity.
Poole is still there in the final year of his contract. Jordan Hawkins is gone, but AJ Johnson arrives as the primary SG.
That leaves questions for Kobe Bufkin and Jarron Pierre.
The wing rotation may be even tighter. Murphy led the Pelicans at 35.5 minutes per game and is expected to stay near that number.
Bey averaged 31.2 minutes while shooting 36.7 percent from deep. Jones could slide to small forward at times, and Mathurin, McGowens, and Williamson may also see work there.
Inside, the Pelicans have another balancing act. Williamson averaged 29.7 minutes last season, but New Orleans should be aiming for at least 32 this year.
Queen averaged 25 minutes as a rookie and needs reps to keep growing. Missi saw his minutes fall to 19.7, though that figure probably rises.
Matković averaged 14.7 minutes and hit 42.2 percent from three on limited attempts. DeAndre Jordan brings size and experience, but likely only in specific matchups.
The roster crunch would be one thing if the Pelicans had no flaws elsewhere. But they gave up 120 points and 45.8 rebounds per game last season, and they were already getting beaten on the glass while allowing 12.7 offensive rebounds a night. Smaller lineups can add pace and versatility, but they can’t give away rim protection and rebounding every night.
Mosley won’t be able to solve this by handing out minutes based on salary or status. He has to find lineups that actually fit together.
Murphy’s shooting makes him indispensable. Jones brings the defense.
Fears and Murray have to keep the ball moving and secure. Queen, Missi, and Matković need to show they can hold up frontcourt units.
In the end, the pecking order will come down to shooting, defense, and ball security. The Pelicans have enough talent to make the minutes battle intense. The real question is whether they have enough pieces that work together to build a rotation that makes sense.
In Other News...
Pelicans Just Made Jamahl Mosleys Biggest Roster Problem Even Worse
The Pelicans roster shuffle took another sharp turn with a deal that sent Jordan Hawkins, Micah Peavy, a future second-round pick and a second-round pick swap to Memphis in exchange for AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson. The move was tied to managing salary cap space after signing Bennedict Mathurin, but it also trimmed away a player in Peavy who gave New Orleans a defensive-minded option and appeared in 61 games last season.
For a team still trying to sort out its depth and identity, losing that kind of versatile piece can make the margins even tighter. New Orleans did get a pair of veterans back, yet the trade also leaves another question hanging over the roster construction, especially for a staff trying to balance immediate help with the kind of energy and versatility Peavy brought on the wing. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Just Made A Bennedict Mathurin Move Worth Watching
The Pelicans have used their recent trade with Memphis to carve out the kind of roster and financial flexibility that can open doors in a hurry, and one of those doors led to Bennedict Mathurin. New Orleans signed the wing to a two-year deal with a second-year player option, adding a young scorer to a group that already has 14 players on guaranteed contracts, plus a few more on partially guaranteed and two-way arrangements as training camp approaches.
Mathurins path to New Orleans took a strange turn before the contract ever came together. He had been a restricted free agent, then became unrestricted after the Los Angeles Clippers withdrew his qualifying offer with his consent, making him available for a fresh look elsewhere. For the Pelicans, the move is worth watching not just because it fills a spot, but because it suggests they still have room to keep shaping the roster if the right opportunity shows up. [Read more 🡒]
Jordan Poole Just Got A Pelicans Opportunity He Had To Have
The Pelicans four-player swap with Memphis changed the shape of the backcourt almost as much as it altered the roster balance elsewhere. By sending shooting guards Jordan Hawkins and Micah Peavy to the Grizzlies for forwards AJ Johnson and Taj Gibson, New Orleans thinned out its options on the wing and opened a clearer lane for Jordan Poole to matter in the rotation.
Poole is heading into the final season of his contract, which makes this a crucial stretch for him in more ways than one. With fewer natural shooting guards ahead of him, he has a real chance to carve out bench minutes, but only if his play improves and he fits more cleanly into the Pelicans scheme. The opportunity is there now, and for Poole, it is the kind he needs to take. [Read more 🡒]