Sunday night in New Orleans wasn’t just about basketball, and maybe that’s for the best. With headlines dominated by Lane Kiffin reportedly agreeing to become LSU’s next head football coach, the buzz around the Pelicans’ latest game against the Lakers was muted-and frankly, that might’ve been a mercy.
The Pelicans dropped their 18th game of the season, falling 133-121 to Los Angeles in a matchup that underscored just how far things have unraveled. There’s no sugarcoating it: this team is stuck in neutral, and the losses are piling up fast.
Growing pains and mounting pressure
Derik Queen, one of the franchise’s most promising young pieces, had a rough night. He shot just 33 percent from the floor and finished with a minus-22.
Now, it’s important to remember that rookies have off nights. It’s part of the developmental curve.
But Queen isn’t just any rookie-he came with a hefty price tag, acquired in a deal that cost the Pelicans a significant amount of future capital, including the kind of assets you usually only move when you’re ready to win now.
That’s where the tension lies. Queen and fellow rookie Jeremiah Fears are clearly part of the long-term vision, and there's real talent between them. But when you’re sitting at 3-18 and don’t even control your own 2026 first-round pick, patience becomes a much tougher sell.
Injuries continue to derail the core
Of course, it’s hard to evaluate anything about this roster without acknowledging the elephant in the room: health. Or more accurately, the lack of it.
The Pelicans were without their five highest-paid players on Sunday-Zion Williamson, Jordan Poole, Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy III, and Herb Jones-all sidelined due to injury. Every team deals with injuries, but the Pelicans have been uniquely snakebitten.
The trio of Williamson, Murphy III, and Jones, expected to be the backbone of the franchise, has yet to play a full healthy season together. And yet, the front office doubled down on that group this past offseason, choosing continuity over change.
That decision is looking shakier by the day.
No signs of urgency from the front office
What’s perhaps most frustrating for fans is the silence. After a 3-18 start, there’s been no indication that changes are coming-no trade rumors, no shakeups, no signs of urgency.
The plan, it seems, was to give this group one more shot to prove they could contend together. But through 21 games, it’s hard to argue that they’ve done anything to earn that continued faith.
This isn’t just a team losing games-it’s a team without a clear direction. They aren’t rebuilding in the traditional sense, but they’re not competing either. They’re stuck in a no-man’s land, and that’s one of the most dangerous places to be in the NBA.
Where do they go from here?
There’s still time to course-correct, but the margin for error is thinning fast. Queen and Fears need space to grow, but they also need a stable foundation around them. The veterans need to get healthy, and the front office needs to decide whether this version of the Pelicans is worth salvaging-or if it’s time to pivot and start thinking long-term.
Because right now, the only thing more painful than the losses is the lack of a plan to stop them.