The New Orleans Pelicans made one of the first big trades of the offseason, addressing a long-term construction site. But the others are all still there – in fact, they even added a new one. Is there still a major transaction pending for the Pels?
It’s not often that top decision-makers of an NBA team talk openly about their strategy for the offseason immediately after the season has ended – so the words David Griffin uttered on April 30 caused a certain stir.
“In the past, when in doubt, we’ve gone with continuity,” the Pelicans’ Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations said. “And we thought, ‘Let’s see what this team looks like once it’s healthy.’ Now we’ve seen enough of this group, I think. And we’ve seen that we have a lot of work to do.”
That was apt – and showed that even the best regular season since 2009, when the Pelicans last won 49 games (and were still called the Hornets), did not live up to their ambitions. In principle, Griffin announced a change that was to take place around superstar Zion Williamson, who was injured in the middle of his best game ever in the play-in.
Griffin’s first actions of the offseason also spoke in favor of this shake-up. However, it came to a halt before the potentially biggest hurdle. Somehow, the Pelicans started building a luxurious new home this summer – and then forgot the roof. Or something like that
Pelicans: A good team with building sites
Soberly speaking, the 23/24 season, which saw the trio of Zion, Brandon Ingram and C.J. McCollum play consistent minutes together for the first time in years and, as mentioned, produce the most output in years, had the following problems:
There was no true point guard, the Pels often lacked a line at the end of games, only four teams had worse clutch offenses.
There was a lack of shooting around Zion’s driving ability, which underscored the need to move passionate volume shooter Trey Murphy III into the starting five. But there was no room for him next to the three stars, a center and defensive guru Herb Jones.
The designated center was not an ideal fit for Zion (or Ingram) because: Jonas Valanciunas didn’t really bring a serious outside shot, nor the dynamism as a ring protector that was probably needed defensively.
Only one of these areas has actually been addressed so far:
New Orleans Pelicans: Dejounte Murray solves a problem
The Pelicans acquired Dejounte Murray from Atlanta right at the beginning of the offseason to provide more structure on the court and to work alongside Zion off the ball. Murray is not an elite shooter, but he at least takes the threes (last season: 36% on 7.1 attempts). He’s better defensively than he showed recently in Atlanta, even if his time making the All-Defensive Team has expired. In NOLA, he usually wouldn’t have to take on the opponent’s best offensive player besides Jones anyway.
So far, so good. The center position also changed, but not for the better. Since the Hawks didn’t want Ingram, there was no trade that would have brought them Clint Capela or Onyeka Okongwu in addition to Murray – instead, the Pels gave up their backup center Larry Nance Jr. who had regularly finished games.
Valanciunas, for his part, went to Washington. Soon, No. 21 pick Yves Missi was the only real center on the roster before the Pelicans were able to acquire Daniel Theis at the minimum. However, the German international is not a permanent solution as a starter either. Perhaps NOLA wants to have Zion play center more often in the future, but it is more likely that the position will continue to be seen as a construction site for the time being
New Orleans Pelicans: The Ingram Problem
This is true for Ingram anyway. Which is not because he is not a good player – on the contrary. Last season, the team’s net rating was even best when Ingram played without Zion; the one-time All-Star still can’t win the team’s internal “duel”. The play-in and playoffs revealed why.
Zion and Ingram didn’t really fit together on the court – as a rule, the offense worked much better when only one of them was playing.
Williamson’s ceiling is simply much higher – and he’s never played in the postseason before. In the play-in, however, he made 2024 LeBron James look older than anyone had ever (?) done before; over 36 minutes, Zion delivered 40 points, 11 rebounds, 5 assists … and then he got injured.
Ingram, on the other hand, was still available when NOLA played the Thunder in the actual playoffs. The forward, who himself had only returned from injury a few days earlier, then played a terrible series against Lu Dort. For him, the Canadian Bulldog was probably the worst matchup at the worst time.
New Orleans Pelicans: The stalemate
The problem: Good times have been rare for the Pelicans for years. For the designated Zion “co-star”, Ingram himself is injured far too often – he misses around 20 games every year – and too similar to Williamson in a dissimilar way; he’s quite reluctant to shoot from outside, is ball-dominant, rather weak defensively. He would also like to have a new maximum contract from 2025 onwards.
New Orleans does not want to give him this deal. According to reports, both sides have therefore decided to look for a team that sees things differently – but that seems to be proving difficult. Shams Charania therefore recently reported that both sides could now imagine working together again. There are probably not many alternatives.
Ideally, Ingram’s deal would have been the way to get a starting center, kill two or three birds with one stone and round out the roster (there was reportedly interest in Jarrett Allen and Wendell Carter Jr.). After nothing came of it, the question is where the Pels actually stand now – and what the future holds for them.
New Orleans Pelicans: Was that really all there was to it?
New Orleans has a good team – probably a better one than in the preseason. But also one that isn’t utilizing its resources ideally: Ingram gets 26% of the 24/25 salary cap, McCollum just under 24%. That’s almost half of the available money for two players who aren’t necessarily part of the team’s long-term plans.
Murphy’s rookie contract expires in 2025 – so the 24-year-old, who fits very well alongside Zion, will also be due a lucrative new deal from then on. After all, the Pelicans are lucky enough to have Jones under contract for another three years at well below market value (at around 9% of the cap).
And yet – nothing looks “done” here. The Pelicans have a hole in the middle, (too) many ball-dominant players, too much overlap in general. How did Griffin put it? “We’ve seen enough of this group.” The five players who played the most minutes for the Pelicans in 23/24 are all still there, though …
