The New Orleans Pelicans don’t need a miracle from deep, but they do need a few more shooters to show up early and make defenses pay attention.
That’s been a nagging issue for New Orleans for a while now. In 23/24, the Pelicans were actually one of the better perimeter shooting teams in the league, finishing fourth in the NBA in three-point percentage at 38.3% as a group. Last season, that number slipped hard, all the way down to No. 24 at 34.7%.
Trey Murphy remains the obvious anchor on the outside. He hit 37.9% of his threes last year while firing away on 8.6 attempts per game, and he gives the Pelicans a real weapon.
But he can’t carry the whole load by himself. If a few more teammates become legitimate threats from range, life gets easier for Murphy and for the Pelicans’ paint scorers.
One of the names that could matter right away is Saddiq Bey. At times last season, he kept the offense afloat.
There were stretches where he looked like the only player consistently doing something positive with the ball in his hands. Bey brings a physical, old-school approach around the basket, but he’s also capable of stepping outside and knocking down threes.
When that part of his game is working, the ripple effect is obvious. New Orleans won all three games in which he made at least five threes, which says plenty about how valuable his shooting can be.
Among the options on this roster, he stands out as one of the more realistic sources of added three-point volume.
Jeremiah Fears is another player worth watching closely. His early offensive flashes were driven more by his ability to get into the paint and finish near the rim, but there were also signs that his shooting could become a real asset.
He had 11 games last season in which he made at least three threes and shot at least 40%. If that becomes the norm instead of the exception, the Pelicans get a lot more dangerous.
Herbert Jones rounds out the group. He fits the classic three-and-D mold, even if the “three” part has been inconsistent lately.
Two seasons ago, he took 3.6 threes per game and hit 41.8% of them. Last season, that volume climbed to 4.6 attempts per game, but the percentage dropped to 30.9%.
Even with the dip, there’s still value in the attempts themselves for a team that doesn’t have many proven shooters. Defenses still have to respect the possibility, and that matters over the course of a possession and a game.
If New Orleans can get early-season shooting from Bey, Fears, and Jones, the whole offense has a chance to look a lot more balanced.
In Other News...
Pelicans Just Got Hit With A Brutal Long Term Reality Check
The Pelicans are staring at an unflattering stretch in Grant Hughes latest three-year power ranking for Bleacher Report, where New Orleans lands near the bottom of the league. It is the kind of check on a franchise that reminds everyone how quickly optimism can fade, especially for a team trying to balance present-day uncertainty with whatever comes next.
Still, the picture is not completely barren. New Orleans has youth on the roster, plus expiring contracts that could open up flexibility in future moves, and it also holds the rights to a draft pick from the Milwaukee Bucks. If the lottery breaks its way, that asset could become an important piece in the effort to speed up a reset the Pelicans badly need. [Read more 🡒]