The New Orleans Pelicans have spent the summer acting like a team with no urgency, and that’s exactly why people around the NBA keep staring at them in disbelief.
This is a franchise coming off back-to-back sub-30 win seasons, including a 26-win campaign last year, yet the roster has barely changed. New Orleans re-signed 37-year-old center DeAndre Jordan and added second-round pick Jaron Pierre Jr., but otherwise left the group intact. For a team that clearly needed help, the silence has been the story.
NBA insider John Hollinger put that confusion into words in a recent piece, calling New Orleans “The league’s most puzzling franchise continues to amaze onlookers”, and adding, “I would be hard-pressed to name a worse-performing team in recent history that brought back the exact same roster from a year earlier……..But what really amazed people was not the Pelicans’ summer-league choices, but their roster moves … or lack thereof."
That frustration makes sense when you look at the obvious holes. The Pelicans needed size in the middle and more shooting on the perimeter, and neither problem has been solved. Instead, the front office has left the same concerns hanging over a roster that already struggled badly.
Last offseason’s answer at center, Kevon Looney, never worked. The veteran big man signed a two-year deal, then played only 21 games and averaged 2.8 points per game. New Orleans declined his second-year option, which cleared about $8 million in salary cap space.
Now the center picture is thin. Yves Missi, entering his third year, and Jordan are the only true traditional bigs on the roster.
President of basketball operations Joe Dumars said this summer that he expects Zion Williamson and Derik Queen to share the floor plenty, but that creates a huge defensive gamble. The two were part of one of the worst defensive ratings when they played together last season, and both need a frontcourt partner who can protect the rim and rebound.
The Pelicans didn’t add that kind of anchor.
They also didn’t bring in the sort of shooter that could help fix their long-running three-point issues. That leaves Trey Murphy III as even more important than before, which is why the rumors about his possible availability this summer have raised eyebrows. Whether that outside noise affects him is unclear, but it’s another strange layer in a summer already full of them.
There are more questions still: the guaranteed two-year deal for Jordan, the decision not to move either Jordan Poole or Dejounte Murray, and the general lack of direction that has defined the offseason.
The hiring of Jamahl Mosley was supposed to represent a reset and a push toward a harder-working culture. Instead, he’s been handed a roster with no real paint protection and no meaningful spacing upgrade.
Unless New Orleans makes a late move for a starting-caliber center, the risk is obvious: another year lost, more wasted Zion Williamson prime, and more time spent stuck in Western Conference irrelevance.
In Other News...
Pelicans May Finally Have A Real Answer Next To Zion
The Pelicans have spent the offseason looking for a sturdier frontcourt answer, and Daniel Gafford has a profile that makes sense on paper. He brings the kind of rim-running, shot-blocking presence New Orleans has lacked around Zion Williamson, and his recent production showed he can supply efficient finishing, rebounding and some real protection at the basket without needing the offense built around him.
What makes the fit worth watching is how neatly Gafford could slide into a role the Pelicans have been trying to solve for a while. New Orleans has kept searching for a dependable center to pair with Williamson, and if the market keeps moving the right way, this is the sort of name that could move from speculative fit to actual target before long. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Are Making One Risky Bet Fans Can't Ignore
The Pelicans have kept a low profile this offseason, and the front offices only free-agency move so far was bringing back DeAndre Jordan. That quiet approach leaves New Orleans leaning heavily on what it already has in house, with the biggest internal swing centered on center Yves Missi, who flashed real promise last season in a reserve role.
Missi gave the Pelicans energy, rim protection and a reliable target around the basket off the bench, but asking him to carry that production over into a much bigger role is a different kind of test. New Orleans does not have nearly as many center alternatives as it once did, and with the roster being built around development as much as outside additions, the pressure on Missi to answer that call is impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Another Bad Start Could Put The Pelicans Core On Notice
The Pelicans are headed into next season with a familiar look after last years 26-56 finish, and that alone has put a little more pressure on the group to show real progress. A roster that was supposed to compete instead spent most of the year searching for traction, which is why the conversation around the franchise has shifted from short-term fixes to what happens if the same problems show up again.
If the season goes sideways again, the front office could be forced into some uncomfortable decisions about the core it has tried to build around. Trey Murphy III has emerged as the most intriguing trade chip in that scenario because of the kind of return he could command, while the broader question is whether New Orleans would keep patching things together or use a disappointing year as the signal to reset around younger talent. [Read more 🡒]