The New Orleans Pelicans’ front office has landed near the bottom of CBS Sports’ latest league-wide rankings, coming in at No. 29 and checking in as the second-worst operation in the NBA.
That spot hasn’t moved since February, when Sam Quinn’s previous version of the list had New Orleans in the same place. Only the Sacramento Kings, led by GM Scott Perry, were ranked lower both times. Perry was hired around the same time as Joe Dumars, who, along with Troy Weaver, was brought in last year to take over after the David Griffin era.
The early return on that change has been rough, though it’s still too soon to draw a final verdict. New Orleans has been hampered by poor health over the last two years, which gives the front office a little more cover than some other teams in this range. Even so, the league still doesn’t see the Pelicans as true contenders when they’re at full strength.
Quinn’s harshest point of criticism centered on the Derik Queen trade. The concern was that Atlanta’s pick could have landed in the top four and delivered the Hawks a major prize. Instead, the Hawks wound up at No. 8 and used that pick on point guard Kingston Flemings.
Even with that outcome, the Pelicans would still have chosen Queen over Flemings as prospects. That leaves the move looking more like a bad idea than a catastrophic blunder.
There’s also the CJ McCollum deal with the Washington Wizards, which brought back Jordan Poole and Saddiq Bey. Bey has been excellent, but Poole has struggled to fit in. His $34 million contract has become a burden for a player who hasn’t been in the rotation and has limited the team’s flexibility this offseason.
At the same time, Dumars and Weaver have only been in charge for a year and a half. They inherited a situation that has made it hard to juggle a rebuild while trying to keep the current core intact, especially with Zion Williamson’s unusual trade value hanging over everything. For now, the hope in New Orleans is simple: that the next stretch goes better than the last one.
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Pelicans Face A Brutal 2030 Warning About Where This Is Headed
The long view can be a cruel one in the NBA, and The Sporting News just put the Pelicans in a group no team wants to join. In a ranking of the leagues bottom three franchises by 2030, New Orleans landed alongside Golden State and Milwaukee, a reminder that the path from promising core to long-term stability is never as straight as it looks in the moment.
For the Pelicans, the warning sign is less about one bad season than about uncertainty around where the roster goes next. Golden State is staring at an eventual post-dynasty rebuild and Milwaukee is juggling the pressures that come after a title chase, but New Orleans is being viewed as a team without a clear direction, one that could be forced into major changes and lean heavily on draft luck to find its next lift. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Face A Real Decision On Two Key Young Pieces
The Pelicans head into camp with a couple of openings and a real opportunity to sort out their future at the same time. Alongside Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy and Herbert Jones, there are starting spots to be won, and rookie Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen have both put themselves in the conversation after showing real potential in their first seasons. New Orleans also likes the work each has put in this offseason, which only adds to the intrigue as the roster starts to take shape.
For now, the expectation is not that either young player is handed a starting job right away, but that can change quickly once training camp and the preseason begin to reveal who is ready for a larger role. The Pelicans are clearly weighing whether to prioritize their development in the rotation early, and the answer could tell a lot about how aggressively the team wants to lean into its next wave of talent. [Read more 🡒]
Pelicans Still Have One Roster Decision That Could Drag On
The Pelicans still have one two-way spot to sort out, and it has turned into a small but meaningful camp storyline. Kobe Bufkin and Christian Koloko are in the mix for that final opening, while the front office can also keep looking at other free-agent options as it tries to round out the roster with the right blend of upside and fit.
Bez Mbeng, Curtis Jones and Hayden Gray are among the shooting guards who could enter the conversation if New Orleans wants to keep its options open a little longer. With two two-way players already signed, the remaining decision is less about filling a seat and more about choosing which kind of development piece makes the most sense for a team still balancing present needs with future depth. [Read more 🡒]