Following a historically competitive Western Conference playoff race last campaign, that trend looks set to continue this season. Not only has the overall competition in the West improved over the summer, but the contenders at the top of the food chain have bolstered their rosters in the hopes of securing a top-four seed.
The Denver Nuggets have added Cameron Johnson, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Bruce Brown around Nikola Jokic, the Houston Rockets have added Kevin Durant to a squad that finished second in the West last season, and the Oklahoma City Thunder have locked in their championship core for the foreseeable future.
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In doing so, it has left a cohort of teams that will undoubtedly be fighting for the bottom-half playoff seeding positions, and one of those teams is the New Orleans Pelicans. While currently they’re viewed as a borderline playoff team according to the Vegas odds, head coach Willie Green is optimistic about what they can achieve this season.
Giving themselves a chanceÂ
There’s no escaping the unforgiving nature of the West. Everyone knows it, and there is no point in not facing it head-on. It’s as cutthroat as it’s ever been, meaning the margin for error has never been lower.
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As it does every season, health will play a massive factor, and much like the healthiest team is usually rewarded with a championship ring, the same reality applies for every playoff hopeful.
When it comes to the Pelicans, history couldn’t be worse in that respect. Over the last three seasons, no other team has suffered more overall injuries than New Orleans, resulting in a roster that’s always had potential, but never the sustained window to prove it.
This time around, they’re hoping their fortunes will tilt in their favor, as a few new faces attempt to bring some stability against the injury bug. If the Pels manage to do so, it’s inevitable they’ll be competitive, especially with Zion Williamson in the best shape of his career, and recently acquired Jordan Poole out to prove he’s still one of the most dynamic scorers in the league.
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The sense of a new chapter is already permeating throughout the locker room, and Basketball Network asked Willie Green what success would look like for the franchise this season.
“The focus is on us, I think, as our group are getting to know each other more and more we’re going to get better as a team as that progresses,” he said. “We just want to have an opportunity to walk into every single building and give ourselves chances to win games, and the same thing when people come to our house. So we’re just going to continue to focus on us and our concepts and focus on our group continuing to come together. And thus far I’m extremely blessed to have an opportunity to coach high character guys,” he said.
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High hopes
If the Pelicans are going to do anything special this season, in conjunction with health, they’ll need to play almost perfect basketball. They have the talent, yes, but history tells us talent alone isn’t enough to book your ticket to the postseason in the West.
There is a reason why Vegas and analysts around the league don’t have them as a lottery team this season, but it also means they head into the campaign with nothing to lose.
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It’s also hard to substantiate how big of an impact Williamson’s revamped physical condition can be in the grand scheme of things. If he remains healthy and takes the leap the whole world has been waiting for since he got drafted, all of a sudden the Pelicans could be boasting one of the best players in the league and the conversation becomes very different, very quickly.
Only time will tell if coach Green’s optimism is legitimate or just wishful thinking, but with Zion and Poole steering the ship, they’ll be must-see-TV at the very least.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 6, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.