The New Orleans Pelicans spent the summer talking about change, but the roster came out looking a lot like the one they started with. Outside of bringing back 37-year-old center DeAndre Jordan on a two-year deal, New Orleans stayed quiet while plenty of other NBA teams made bolder moves.
That restraint wasn’t for lack of trying, according to executive vice president of basketball operations Joe Dumars. He told The Times-Picayune, “We were engaged in a lot of conversations with a lot of different teams.”
Even with all that dialogue, the Pelicans didn’t land a deal to bring anyone in or send anyone out. And that leaves the same issue hanging over the roster: the shooting simply isn’t good enough.
Last season, New Orleans finished 25th in three-point attempts, 27th in three-point makes and 24th in three-point percentage. That’s a rough fit for a team built around Zion Williamson and Derik Queen, especially with Dumars saying this summer that he wants the two to log extended minutes together. If that plan holds, the Pelicans will be playing large stretches with at least two non-shooters on the floor.
The rest of the guard and wing group doesn’t erase the problem. Jeremiah Fears flashed some real promise as a rookie with his speed and playmaking, but he hit just 33% from deep. Jordan Poole also finished at 33% from three, while Dejounte Murray is a career 33% shooter from beyond the arc and was down to 29% last season after returning from a torn Achilles injury.
The usage numbers tell the same story. Among New Orleans’ top seven players in usage last season, only Trey Murphy III and Saddiq Bey shot better than 35% from three. Murphy and Bey were fifth and seventh, respectively, in usage, which means the players most often handling the ball were not the ones defenses had to fear from outside.
That’s a dangerous place to live in today’s NBA. Over the last six seasons, only one championship team - the 2024-2025 Oklahoma City Thunder - finished outside the top 10 in three-point shooting in the year it won the title. New Orleans is not in that neighborhood yet, but if it wants to build real consistency, it needs more reliable shooting.
The fit issues around Williamson make the shortage even more obvious. For years, the Pelicans have wanted a stretch big next to him to open up the lane.
Instead, Williamson keeps operating in crowded paint spaces, and at 6-foot-6 he’s already among the most blocked players in the league. If the big alongside him is also working close to the basket, the defense gets exactly what it wants.
Without more size and shooting, opponents will keep packing the paint and making Williamson earn every finish the hard way. And until New Orleans adds more floor spacing around Williamson and Queen, the ceiling stays limited.
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