With the NBA season still two months away, the New Orleans Pelicans are staring at a summer that hasn’t delivered the jolt fans were hoping for. After another rough year that ended with fewer than 30 wins, the most likely outcome now is simple: the roster they have is probably the roster that opens at home against the Indiana Pacers.
That reality has left plenty of people around the team wondering why so little has changed. But executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars says the front office was working the phones all offseason, even if nothing came together.
“We were engaged in a lot of conversations with a lot of different teams,” Dumars said in an interview with The Times-Picayune’s Rod Walker recently.
He made it clear the silence wasn’t for lack of effort.
“The lack of moves being made right now is not from a lack of effort or us deciding we didn't want to do anything. We've engaged with a lot of teams this offseason. But there was just no big deal that I felt was going to make us better for us to pull the trigger on.”
So far, the only notable changes have been hiring head coach Jamahl Mosley and bringing back veteran center DeAndre Jordan on a guaranteed two-year deal.
That cautious approach feels especially striking after last summer’s mixed results, when New Orleans brought in veteran center Kevon Looney and Jordan Poole. Looney played in only 21 games last season, and Poole was benched at one point because of his inconsistent play. Those moves seem to have made the Pelicans even more careful about chasing a splash.
There were also structural limits. The team passed on this year’s first-round pick after drafting Derik Queen, and the lack of financial flexibility made it tough to chase a major free agent.
New Orleans is about $8 million below the luxury tax line and is expected to stay there. The Pelicans have never paid into the tax in franchise history.
That leaves the team looking at smaller fixes, not sweeping changes. New Orleans did add a couple of big men on training camp deals to bring in more size and bodies, and the center spot remains a clear concern after the Pelicans struggled to protect the paint. The hope is that third-year center Yves Missi can take a step forward after some regression last season following his rookie year.
For now, the organization appears ready to let Mosley work with what he has. Whether that’s a fair bet after a 26-win season is another question, but it does give the new coach a chance to shape a young roster with real talent and obvious flaws.
There is still some optimism tied to the group’s core pieces. Dejounte Murray returned last season after a year away recovering from an Achilles injury and averaged 16.7 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.4 rebounds in 14 games. Zion Williamson is coming off the second-healthiest season of his career, and there is plenty of anticipation around the continued development of rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen.
Mosley’s first job may be less about a quick turnaround and more about finding the best version of this group before the front office eventually makes its next move. That could mean flipping Poole’s expiring $30+ million deal for future assets or dealing former first-round pick Jordan Hawkins at the deadline.
Dumars has been steady all summer on the idea of discipline, and he pointed to that same mindset when asked about the possibility of trading into the first round in this year’s draft.
“We certainly could have got into the first round,” Dumars said. “But the price was too steep to do it.
That's where discipline comes in. It's appealing sometimes to say you can get into the first round.
But at what cost?”
For the Pelicans, that answer this summer appears to have been no cost at all.
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New Orleans will have to navigate one of the leagues more demanding slates, including 16 back-to-backs, a seven-game road trip and a pair of games in Europe. Even the home calendar carries some pressure points, with holiday dates sprinkled in throughout the year, so the Pelicans will be tested on every front before they can start thinking about a return to the postseason. [Read more 🡒]
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For the Pelicans, the timing only adds to the sting. Williamson remains the face of the franchise conversation, but every rumor involving him carries the same familiar tension between upside and availability, especially for a team that has spent years trying to build around his ceiling. If Houston gets aggressive, New Orleans may have to confront the kind of decision it has long hoped it would not need to make. [Read more 🡒]