The New Orleans Pelicans enter this season with enough talent to talk themselves into optimism, but the same old problem hangs over everything: the roster still has too many ways to break.
Jamahl Mosley arrives with a fresh voice, Trey Murphy III keeps trending up, Zion Williamson remains a nightmare matchup, and the younger players bring real upside. That’s enough to make training camp feel hopeful. It’s not enough to make the doubts disappear after back-to-back seasons with fewer than 30 wins.
And the biggest issue ties the rest together.
Shooting remains the most obvious concern, and it starts with how much the Pelicans rely on Murphy. Even while missing 16 games last season, he accounted for 21.4% of the team’s three-point attempts and 23.4% of its made threes.
He shot 37.9% from deep. The rest of the roster combined hit just 33.8%.
That’s too much to ask from one player. The 49-win Pelicans team from 2023-24 was much more balanced from outside, with eight players shooting better than 35% from three on at least 90 attempts: Matt Ryan at 45.1%, CJ McCollum at 42.9%, Herb Jones at 41.8%, Naji Marshall at 38.7%, Murphy at 38.0%, Jose Alvarado at 37.7%, Jordan Hawkins at 36.6%, and Brandon Ingram at 35.5%.
This year, the answers are less certain. Jones has shown he can make open threes, but not with real consistency.
Dejounte Murray has to become a dependable spacer. Bennedict Mathurin has scoring in his game, but not yet a reliable outside shot.
Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen are still figuring out their range.
Some of the extra shooting is supposed to come from projected reserves like Saddiq Bey, Bryce McGowens, and Jordan Poole. But those minutes will depend on roles, matchups, and whether those players can stay on the floor.
Mosley can’t fix spacing by pointing to names on the bench. The players actually on the court have to make shots. If they don’t, opponents will pack the paint, crowd Zion, clog driving lanes, and force Murphy to work even harder for every clean look.
Defense is the other major issue, and the numbers have been ugly: New Orleans finished 29th in defensive rating in 2024-25 and 23rd the season before that. Any step forward would help. But this group still has a long way to go before it looks respectable.
The Pelicans are counting on Mosley to bring accountability and a tougher edge. That matters, but wanting to defend is not the same thing as actually defending.
Jones can take on tough perimeter matchups, but he can’t do everything by himself. He can’t stop the ball, rotate to the rim, and finish possessions with rebounds all on his own.
Zion has to become a reliable defender. Murray needs to offer more resistance at the point of attack. Queen must show better awareness and more consistent effort, while Yves Missi has to protect the paint without opening up the glass.
Better habits will help. Better coaching will help too. But New Orleans still needs lineups that can defend without giving away too much offense.
That’s why the defensive issue connects back to the shooting problem so directly. The Pelicans have intriguing scorers, developing playmakers, and individual defenders who can handle specific jobs. What they’ve lacked is a way to make the pieces fit.
Add shooting, and the defense can suffer. Add defense, and the floor can shrink.
Put Zion and Queen together, and the questions about spacing and interior defense show up immediately. Simply getting everyone on the floor does not guarantee a balanced rotation.
Management has already acknowledged that more roster work remains. It should.
Mosley can sharpen the habits, define the roles, and help the young players grow. What he still needs are combinations that actually complement each other. If the Pelicans are serious about making the playoffs, the rest of the roster has to solve the problems that keep showing up, not just add another interesting name.
In Other News...
Pelicans Fans Just Got More Ways To Watch This Season
Pelicans fans will have a few more familiar voices and a few more viewing options when the season tips off. New Orleans announced its broadcast team for the upcoming year, keeping Joel Meyers and Antonio Daniels on the call, with Andrew Lopez back as sideline reporter and Kelly Crull and Kalia Butler joining the crew. On the radio side, WWL will again carry the games with Todd Graffagnini and John DeShazier.
The bigger change is on the distribution front, where the Pelicans will lean on the Gulf Coast Sports & Entertainment Network as the main home for telecasts, with some games also set to air on FOX 8 and stream on Pelicans+ and Amazon Prime. For a fan base that has had to track down games across different platforms before, the range of options should make the season a little easier to follow, even as the full setup settles in. [Read more 🡒]
Zion Is Giving Pelicans Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Zion Williamson is giving Pelicans fans a familiar kind of offseason optimism, only this time theres a little more reason to take it seriously. Entering his seventh NBA season in New Orleans, he reportedly came into training camp at 271 pounds, lighter than the 284 pounds he has usually been listed at, and his trainer, Chris Chrisp, has been putting clips of his offseason work on display to back up the buzz.
The health piece still hangs over everything with Williamson, but last season offered the clearest sign yet of what the Pelicans can look like when he stays on the floor. He played a career-high 62 games, and if the improved conditioning translates into another durable year, New Orleans suddenly has a centerpiece who can change the mood around the franchise in a hurry. [Read more 🡒]
Zion Williamson Just Gave Pelicans Fans A Reason To Believe Again
Zion Williamson arrived at media day with the kind of honest self-assessment Pelicans fans have been waiting to hear. He said he is not yet where he wants or needs to be in his NBA career, even after recently putting together his second most healthy season and showing signs of a stronger body during the offseason. For a New Orleans team now guided by executive Joe Dumars and coach Jamahl Mosley, Williamsons status remains the biggest variable in everything they hope to build.
The optimism around the Pelicans is real, but it still runs through Williamsons ability to turn a healthier stretch into something more durable and more consistent. New Orleans is talking like a team with playoff aspirations, and the roster, coaching change and front-office direction all point that way. What remains unresolved is whether Williamson can finally match that ambition with the level of play the Pelicans need from him this season. [Read more 🡒]