THE FUTURE REMAINS BRIGHT FOR THE NEW ORLEANS PELICANS

On March 19th, the New Orleans Pelicans found themselves in a surprisingly great position. Despite not having any initial preseason hype or expectation, they had just won eight of their last ten games and found themselves in a commanding position to secure a top-five seed in a competitive Western Conference.

However, the feeling of euphoria didn't last long. They were blown out by the Orlando Magic the very next game, and star forward Brandon Ingram was diagnosed with a left knee injury, ruling him out for at least two weeks. The team eventually found themselves on a four-game loss streak before recovering and clutching out four of their last five games of the season.

But by this time, the damage had already been done. They lost out on a guaranteed playoff seed and needed to fight their way through the Play-In Tournament to keep their postseason hopes alive. They were handily beaten by the Los Angeles Lakers in the battle for the seventh seed before eliminating the Sacramento Kings to claim the final eighth seed, but lost out on a key player in the process.

The Pelicans would enter their first playoff series since the Anthony Davis era, but would be doing so without Zion Williamson, their franchise star, due to a hamstring injury suffered against the Lakers. Without their best player available, the series went about as expected, if not worse. The Pelicans got swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder, and were statistically the worst offensive playoff team over the last eight years. However, despite their grim end of the season, the future of the Pelicans couldn't be brighter.

The Pelicans Have Found a Formula For Success

Zion is averaging a career-high five assists per game

Heading into the 2024 NBA season, the Pelicans weren't Williamson's "team" strangely enough, and it made sense why. Although he was the clear-cut best player on the team, injury concerns, and motivation issues made it difficult for the front office to put all their chips into Williamson. The intention was always to play around both a more reliable Ingram, and a higher potential Williamson, but by the end of the season, Zion had established himself as the undisputed number-one option to build around.

So what happened? For starters, he was able to remain healthy for most of the regular season. Prior to the 2024 NBA season, Williamson had only played more than 60 regular season games once. Over the last two regular seasons, Williamson has played a total of 29 games. This season, he suited up for a career-high 70 games.

Alongside increased participation, Williamson also found himself taking on a new role. Since he was no longer the sole scoring focus of the team, he needed to adapt his game to be more complete. He saw increased usage in a facilitating role, averaging a career-high five assists per game.

His ability to run the point forward role opened up the entire Pelicans' offense. As an off-ball player, Williamson isn't the most active, and when the ball was in Ingram's hand, he'd often clog up space in the paint. When Williamson ran the offense, he dragged his defender out of the paint, giving more space for his teammates to operate. He was also able to utilize his deceptively quick speed to drive to the basket for an easy layup or a kickout pass. 22 percent of his assists this season came from drives.

The Right Pieces for the Pelicans' Puzzle

Williamson, Ingram, and McCollum were outscored by 25 points when the trio were on the floor together

The Pelicans entered the season with a core of Williamson, Ingram, and McCollum. They placed faith in the trio's combination of experience and potential to lead them to the postseason. But as the season progressed, it was clear that two-thirds of the core were no longer going to be involved in their future plans.

As a trio, they have a -2.35 net rating and have been outscored by a total of 25 points on the floor together. Although they remained competitive throughout the entire regular season, it was clear that there were noncomplementary and overlapping skill sets.

Both Ingram and Williamson need the ball to succeed, and neither player excels off the ball. Ingram isn't a reliable three-point shooting threat to stretch the floor for Williamson, and Williamson's inability to play away from the paint takes away Ingram's space. They also don't have a true point guard, which limits their ability to create effective offense when their shots aren't falling. They are one of the worst clutch teams in NBA history and are 0-26 when trailing after the third quarter.

Luckily for the Pelicans, many of their role players have stepped up during the season, and have established themselves as legitimate pieces that could be built around. Herb Jones established himself as one of the best three-and-d players in the league.

Trey Murphy III returned from injury in early December and has fit much better alongside Williamson than Ingram. It's clear that he's too talented for a bench role, and should most likely find a permanent position in the starting lineup. With recent news that the Pelicans aren't planning on extending Ingram, it's likely that they view Murphy III as the wing to pair alongside Williamson.

The Pelicans have the right pieces to move forward, they just need to clean out their bad contracts. With Williamson proving to be healthier, as well as the proper development of their young players, the team has the right recipe for success.

2024-05-07T03:09:19Z dg43tfdfdgfd