With the NBA Draft a month away, the rumor mill around the league should start heating up soon, but the chatter will probably be quiet around the New Orleans Pelicans.<\/p>\n
After dropping a few spots in the lottery and landing the No. 7 pick in the first round, New Orleans won\u2019t play a factor in the Ace Bailey debate or the speculation that there could be a surprise name that jumps into the top five.<\/p>\n
The Pelicans still have a chance to land a quality contributor at No. 7. It\u2019s just going to require some patience. That will probably be an overarching theme around the Pelicans this season.<\/p>\n
For those who have been patiently awaiting another one of our mailbags, today\u2019s your lucky day. Let\u2019s get into some questions submitted by our readers about the draft, potential trades, the future with new executive vice president of basketball Joe Dumars in charge and, of course, Zion Williamson.<\/p>\n
Here we go!<\/p>\n
(Some questions have been edited for length and clarity.)<\/p>\n
What odds would you put on a Zion trade this summer? \u2013 Louis G.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s go ahead and get this one out of the way.<\/p>\n
Yes, the Pelicans were very intentional with their decision to make Williamson the team\u2019s on-stage representative at the NBA Draft Lottery a few weeks ago (and Williamson\u2019s decision to be there was also intentional).<\/p>\n
Yes, it\u2019s very unlikely Williamson gets moved in a trade before the 2025-26 season starts. There\u2019s already been communication between Williamson, his camp and Dumars on several occasions. All parties feel pretty good about where things stand with the Pelicans-Williamson marriage heading into next season.<\/p>\n
Yes, I can understand why that decision can be frustrating for fans hoping for a much more thorough reset after the Brandon Ingram trade last February and the decision to fire David Griffin at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
Ultimately, it\u2019s really difficult to give up on Williamson when he was playing the best basketball of his career during the second half of last season. He was in the best shape of his career and it was the most impact he\u2019s made on both ends of the court.<\/p>\n
If he picks up where he left off and performs at the same level next season, New Orleans will be one of the wild cards in the Western Conference. Of course, he has to stay healthy. If he can\u2019t, the Pelicans will be right back in the lottery next summer.<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t blame them for taking the risk when the potential Williamson can reach is so high. No realistic Williamson trade package would\u2019ve brought back a return that could match everything Williamson brings when he\u2019s healthy and locked in.<\/p>\n
However, I\u2019d also expect this regime to have far less patience with Williamson if he doesn\u2019t stay on the right path or if injuries become an issue again.<\/p>\n
With Ingram gone and Dejounte Murray sidelined for at least the first few months of the season, this team needs Williamson to perform like a superstar, and be on the floor consistently.<\/p>\n
Why should we be hopeful about a Dumars\/Willie Green pairing? \u2013 James C.<\/p>\n
Should Dumars repeat a big Griffin mistake and retain our head coach? If memory serves me, that led to three different coaches in three years. Who would you like to see come in and take over? \u2013 Paul S.<\/p>\n
Shout-out to James for wording his question really well.<\/p>\n
For those who are skeptical of the Dumars hiring, it\u2019s unfair to assume he\u2019ll fail purely based on some of the poor decisions he made at the end of his Detroit Pistons tenure in the early 2010s or the fact it\u2019s been more than a decade since he was in charge of running an organization. However, he doesn\u2019t have an obvious path to follow.<\/p>\n
When the Pelicans hired Griffin to be the lead executive for the organization in 2019, fans were hopeful and supported him due to Williamson\u2019s arrival and the expectation that he could get a significant return in the Anthony Davis trade. Even though the Pelicans were starting over, everyone knew Griffin had the pieces to start this rebuild on the right foot.<\/p>\n
Things are much different now. Upon his arrival, Dumars won\u2019t be leading a complete rebuild with this group. Green will still be his head coach. Williamson will still be the best player on the team. Trey Murphy, Herb Jones and Yves Missi will remain pivotal building blocks for the present and the future.<\/p>\n
Dumars\u2019 success in his first year will probably be judged less by his moves to improve the roster and more by the nuanced things he does behind the scenes to shift the culture in New Orleans.<\/p>\n
This team doesn\u2019t need an overhaul of the roster. It just needs the players who are currently on the roster to suit up and play consistently. If Dumars can make that happen, he\u2019ll look like a genius. If Williamson, Murphy and Jones miss close to as many games as they did last year, everyone will say the Dumars hire was a disaster.<\/p>\n
There will be no simple way to win over fans. Dumars will have to gain the confidence of folks in New Orleans by making shrewd moves to bolster this roster and demanding more from his star players on and off the court.<\/p>\n
As for the front office\/coach pairing, I agree that the decision to keep Green feels similar to Griffin, when he was hired in 2019, retaining Alvin Gentry as head coach. One year later, Gentry was out as head coach and the relationship between he and Griffin deteriorated because they never quite clicked.<\/p>\n
While he has his deficiencies, it\u2019s tough to blame Green for the way last season turned out in New Orleans. The injuries last year\u2019s team dealt with were truly unprecedented, and it\u2019s wrong to ignore the progress the team made under him in previous years.<\/p>\n
Whenever people were down on Green, I\u2019ve always pointed out that he\u2019s shown a willingness to grow and adapt during his four seasons with the Pelicans. He\u2019s been open to trying different strategies and lineup combinations. He\u2019s remained adaptable whenever injuries arose.<\/p>\n
He\u2019s got to show that next sign of development by being more innovative with the offence and his decision-making late in games, but having a young coach who\u2019s still growing should be considered an asset for New Orleans.<\/p>\n
Most executives end up hand-picking their coach for a reason. Alignment at every level of organization is a pivotal part of success. Even if the Pelicans succeed early on, that dynamic between Dumars and Green will be at the forefront whenever this group struggles.<\/p>\n
I know this is a \u201cdoomer\u201d take, but is there truly anything to get excited about for next season other than 20 games of Zion (if we keep him), Missi\u2019s growth, and Joel Meyers and Antonio Daniels on the broadcast? At least the latter is free, and I don\u2019t have to watch the games to listen to them. \u2013 Ryan M.<\/p>\n
What are 2-3 things that need to happen for the Pelicans to contend for a playoff spot besides Zion being\/staying healthy? \u2013 Tony K.<\/p>\n
These questions are somewhat related, so I decided to combine them into one. First, any time Meyers and Daniels are on the call, it\u2019s worth the price of admission. The Pelicans are lucky to have what I consider a top-five play-by-play\/analyst combo on any local broadcast. They\u2019re very good at their jobs despite covering such a hectic franchise.<\/p>\n
Now that I\u2019ve got that out of the way, here are three things the Pelicans need to do to get people excited\/ get the team back to the playoffs (excluding Zion\u2019s health):<\/p>\n
\u2022 Trey Murphy and Herb Jones have to stay healthy and they both have to advance their games to another level. I understand it\u2019s somewhat cheating to throw any health-related points on this list, but Murphy and Jones have become such pivotal figures for this team on the court and among the fanbase. Their growth from rookies into two of the leaders on the team has turned them into beloved figures in New Orleans. If they stay healthy and perform like guys who can be the second- and third-best players on a playoff team, it would galvanize the fanbase and provide a much clearer outlook for the franchise. Williamson, Murphy and Jones have already shown excellent on-court chemistry. They just need to keep building on it.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Find a point guard to fill Murray\u2019s shoes until he\u2019s ready to return from his Achilles injury. It can be through the draft by taking Jeremiah Fears or Kasparas Jaku\u010dionis. It can be through free agency or a trade. Find someone who can run the offense and bring the most out of Murphy, Jones and Missi. The Murray\/Pels pairing wasn\u2019t going great before his awful injury. With so much uncertainty surrounding his future, anyone who steps into that role and provides quality minutes will instantly become a fan favorite.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Use some veteran contracts on the books to build depth via trades. CJ McCollum and Kelly Olynyk are both on expiring contracts. Jordan Hawkins is extension-eligible this summer. Much could change over the next month based on how the draft goes, but it feels unlikely all three of those guys will be back on the team next season. There\u2019s also the possibility that New Orleans could use Bruce Brown in a sign-and-trade with a veteran team. Either way, this team needs to start building some depth and open up the books for the future instead of investing in older complementary players. Of course, having a veteran presence on the roster is key. But it feels like a good time to cash out on experienced veterans like McCollum and Olynyk, with so many contending teams desperate to shrink their tax bill in the coming years.<\/p>\n
I agree that we are not in a doomed situation. We have a talented roster and improved roster construction after the Ingram trade. Will, assuming we stay at No. 7, do you think the team is best served with the best available point guard, or does it depend on who is available? \u2013 Robert S.<\/p>\n
Personally, I say the best-case scenario for this team will be landing one of Fears, Tre Johnson or Kon Knueppel. One of those guys will be available at No. 7. Just take the best available of those three guys and it\u2019ll make life for Dumars and Green much easier.<\/p>\n
I like Knueppel the most out of those three options because the floor on what he can become in the NBA seems so high due to his high-level shooting and steady approach when he\u2019s making plays off the dribble.<\/p>\n
Fears will be linked to the Pelicans by many draft experts because of the Murray injury. A few members of the Pelicans organization think highly of Fears. I do think there will be some hesitancy with making Fears the No. 7 pick. The former Oklahoma star had trouble knocking down outside jumpers during his only season in college and it\u2019s a common belief among draft experts that Fears needs time to get stronger and be more consistent with his decision-making before he\u2019s ready to be a full-time starter. Handing him the keys to an offense right away seems like a bad idea, especially if he can\u2019t space the floor while playing off the ball.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve also heard rumblings that the emergence of Missi last year won\u2019t stop New Orleans from taking a serious look at Duke big man Khaman Maluach. Those who believe in Maluach view him as one of the players with the highest ceiling in this draft because of the impact he can make on defense and the continued improvement he\u2019s shown as an outside shooter.<\/p>\n
I have doubts about using such a high pick on a center when Missi performed so well as a rookie. Maluach also has some holes in his game that may not improve. Waiting for another young center to develop seems counterproductive when Missi has already shown he\u2019s one of the better young bigs in the league. However, if they keep looking into Maluach, that should tell you how they feel about Missi\u2019s future as a starting center.<\/p>\n
Just add some more shooters and figure out where they fit later. It\u2019s hard to go wrong with that strategy.<\/p>\n
(Photo: Jerome Miron \/ USA Today Network via Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the NBA Draft a month away, the rumor mill around the league should start heating up soon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":58302,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2276],"tags":[5,2291,4,1586,16461],"class_list":{"0":"post-58301","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb-draft","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-major-league-baseball-draft","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-mlb-draft","12":"tag-new-orleans-pelicans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/114579505391206135","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58301"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58301\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}