The New Orleans Pelicans don’t exactly enter 2026-27 with the league’s confidence behind them. The betting markets have already made that clear, hanging win totals around 30 at best and some as low as 27.5 after back-to-back seasons near the bottom of the Western Conference and a 26-56 finish in 2025-26.
But this isn’t a roster without reasons for optimism. Jeremiah Fears closed his rookie year with a franchise rookie-record 40-point game.
Derik Queen turned heads with a 30-point triple-double, becoming the first rookie center in NBA history to do it. Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones still anchor the group, Dejounte Murray is back to give new coach Jamahl Mosley another veteran creator, and Zion Williamson is said to be ready for an MVP push.
Still, New Orleans has heard enough about what this team might become. Mosley’s job is to turn that talk into actual wins, and certain dates on the calendar will say a lot about whether that’s happening.
The first real chance comes right out of the gate, when Mosley makes his home debut as head coach against the Indiana Pacers in the season opener. It’s the kind of game that can set the tone fast.
Tyrese Haliburton is working off a year of rust and no longer has the same Finals-level support around him, while Myles Turner’s departure left a major gap on the defensive end. Even so, Haliburton and Ivica Zubac are enough to make the night messy if the Pelicans don’t come out sharp.
New Orleans has to look like the more aggressive team from the jump, because the fan base is still waiting for a reason to trust this group again.
That urgency matters even more with football season hanging over the city. The Saints have an early bye week from October 25 through November 8, which means the Pelicans will have a window to pull attention downtown if they can give people a reason to show up.
That makes the home stretch against the Denver Nuggets and Sacramento Kings in a school-night back-to-back feel especially important for the building. If New Orleans can somehow bank three home wins to start the year, the Halloween Saturday night game against the Atlanta Hawks could turn into the kind of atmosphere the NBA loves on television.
The schedule does loosen up a bit after that. A home date with Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors on November 16 should be a winnable spot on paper, though that comes with the obvious caveat: if Curry actually plays in New Orleans. If he doesn’t, the crowd is likely to let him know it.
Then comes a holiday road test that could matter just as much. The Pelicans face the LA Clippers on Black Friday after three days off, and that’s the sort of spot New Orleans should be hunting. Holiday distractions, a road setting, and the chance to catch the Clippers without an upset Kawhi Leonard all add up to a game the Pelicans ought to target.
Mosley’s team also needs to show it can stay disciplined. This isn’t the kind of roster that can afford to drift through stretches or get caught chasing noise.
A sluggish start won’t necessarily cost the coach his job, but it could put someone on the trade block. By the time the team gets through Christmas week games against the Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs, Memphis Grizzlies, and Oklahoma City Thunder, the picture should be a lot clearer.
The front office also won’t be able to dodge the reality check that comes with New Year’s Eve, when Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers visit the Smoothie King Center. That crowd should tell the organization plenty about how the market sees this season, especially without LeBron James in the mix.
There’s another spotlight moment coming in late January, when the Philadelphia 76ers come to town on January 28 and help kick off Mardi Gras 2027. That game arrives just before New Orleans heads into an eight-game Eastern Conference road trip, and the Pelicans don’t return home again until after the official end of Mardi Gras on Feb. 9, when they host the Hawks.
By then, the trade deadline will be looming on February 11, and the record should tell the real story. The Pelicans are expected to handle the games against the Kings, Grizzlies, Brooklyn Nets, and Washington Wizards, with 10 matchups against those four teams on the schedule. New Orleans needs to find at least 10 more wins elsewhere to stay in the NBA Play-In race.
It’s a tough road, but the map is there. For a Pelicans team built around Williamson and carrying plenty of pressure, these are the games that will show whether New Orleans is finally turning potential into something real.
In Other News...
Pelicans Just Got Dragged Into An Awkward Tyrese Haliburton Debate
The NBAs 2026-27 schedule handed New Orleans an odd place in the latest Tyrese Haliburton conversation, with the Pacers star set to make his return from a torn Achilles in a road game against the Pelicans. It is the sort of matchup nobody circled months ago, but once the league dropped the slate, Haliburtons comeback night became part of the conversation around how the NBA chose to stage one of its more anticipated regular-season moments.
For New Orleans, it is a reminder of how schedule release can turn even an early-season date into a talking point beyond the standings. Indiana has six primetime games on the calendar and New Orleans has two, while another spotlight matchup pits Miami against Minnesota, but the Pelicans are the ones now tied to a return game that has already drawn some frustration from Haliburton. The awkward part is not just the opponent or the venue, but the fact that the leagues setup left plenty of questions around why this one landed where it did. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Schedule Release Puts Dumars And Weaver On The Spot
The Pelicans are heading into the new schedule with far more continuity than change, a reflection of how little went right over a two-year stretch that produced a combined 47 wins. Instead of remaking the roster, New Orleans stayed mostly the course and changed the voice on the sideline, bringing in Jamahl Mosley while keeping core pieces like Zion Williamson, Herb Jones, Saddiq Bey and Trey Murphy III in place.
That puts Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver squarely in the spotlight as the calendar fills out, because the pressure now shifts from roster reshuffling to actual results. The schedule also brings a few dates worth circling, including Kevon Looneys return on Dec. 31, 2026, and Mosleys trip back to Orlando on Feb. 2, 2027, but the bigger question is whether this group can finally turn familiarity into progress. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Suddenly Have A 2026 Draft Dream Worth Watching
The Pelicans are still trying to push toward the playoffs while also giving meaningful run to young pieces like Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, but the long view has quietly opened up a new path for the franchise. Because of Milwaukees rebuilding status, New Orleans could find itself positioned for a premium selection in the 2026 NBA draft even if the on-court results this season break a different way.
That makes the early buzz around Caleb Holt worth monitoring. The freshman guard from Arizona has already been identified as a potential fit if the Pelicans land that kind of pick, giving the front office another possible building block to consider as it balances present-day competitiveness with future upside. [Read more 🡒]