The New Orleans Pelicans have had quite an interesting year. Now that the season is all but over and they are out of the running for a play-in tournament spot, they will have to regroup for the upcoming offseason.
This summer will be a tough one. The Pelicans only own one second-round pick in this year’s draft after trading away fan-favorite Jose Alvarado. They lost all of their other capital for this draft after multiple trades, with the most notable ones occurring on the night of the 2025 NBA Draft.
After selecting guard Jeremiah Fears seventh overall and owning no more first-round picks, they decided to use the two first-rounders they owned in 2026 — one being their own and the other via the Indiana Pacers — to trade back into the first round. They ended up selecting forward Derik Queen thirteenth overall.
Queen has produced solid numbers — hovering around 11 points, six rebounds and three assists. He has also played 78 games up to this point, showing his durability.
However, recently he has been struggling, which makes the draft day trade look increasingly unforgivable, especially when considering the talent that New Orleans would have a shot at acquiring.
Dejounte Murray returned from his year-long rehab of an Achilles tear and has reminded everyone why he was an all-star just a few years back. His leadership and poise set a great example, which matters on a young team.
Now that they only have a few meaningless games left, the Pelicans have to look forward. Only veteran center DeAndre Jordan is on an expiring contract, as big men Kevon Looney and Karlo Matkovic have team options, which means that the front office will decide whether or not they want to re-sign them.
Because of this, there won’t be much roster flexibility on a team that is talented but unproven and injury-prone. Murray, Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole will be making north of $30 million per year, so they can’t go after a star in free agency. Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones are on relatively good-value contracts, but with where the team is, anyone can be traded.
Not having much valuable capital or salary cap flexibility makes this offseason difficult yet important. The organization needs to figure out a way to assemble a team that will produce the results the NOLA faithful have been craving for the past few years.