The New Orleans Pelicans have had a few days to lick their wounds after a humiliating 133-89 NBA In-Season Tournament semifinal loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. Now comes the hard part: a positive response in front of an agitated home crowd. Zion Williamson, Willie Green, and David Griffin's front office will face Smoothie King Center fans who are beginning to sour on some parts of the team's situation.
What happened on the court is not staying in Las Vegas. Even beloved announcer Antonio Daniels has chimed in. The 44-point elimination game blowout felt like an inflection point for this team. Now a quarter of a way into the NBA season, there is enough evidence to properly evaluate this era of the Pelicans. There is plenty to appreciate, but some of it is not pretty, especially when viewed through an In-Season Tournament lens.
David Griffin hits home runs with Pelicans supporting cast
The front office under Griffin does not have many swing-and-miss moves. The Pelicans have a great track record in the NBA Draft over the past few years thanks to general manager Trajan Langdon. Assistant GM Bryson Graham has navigated the salary cap to stay under the luxury tax. EVP Swin Cash has helped foster a family-like culture the players appreciate. Plus, the front office has done a lot to cater to the team, including revamping the training staff.
Trading for CJ McCollum, Larry Nance Jr., and Jonas Valanciunas injected veteran leadership into the locker room. It was paying off big up until Williamson's injury on January 2nd of last season. The Pelicans were in a battle for first place in the Western Conference prior to Williamson's injury, but they ended up falling to ninth in the standings after Williamson went down though, as the injuries just kept piling up. McCollum needed offseason surgery and Nance is out again after nursing various injuries for most of 2023. Still, this was a first-place team, and it is not hard to imagine they could earn a top-four seed this season.
The front office deserves a raise just for nabbing Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones in the 2021 NBA Draft. Finding Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall infused an electric energy in this squad. Jordan Hawkins is already a bonafide sniper. Dyson Daniels is elite on defense with an expanding offensive game. Sure, Jaxson Hayes was a four-year wasted investment with no return, and Kira Lewis Jr. is on the same pathway, but at least Nickeil Alexander-Walker was useful in the McCollum trade.
Save for the Stan Van Gundy hire and transparency with injuries, the decision-makers have done their jobs well. Falling short in the In-Season Tournament championship was a disappointment, but it did not put a dent into this team's potential. Expect the same faces to be running the franchise for at least a few more years.
Willie Green getting repetitive with Pelicans reasons for losing
Green has gotten used to working with skeleton crew squads. The third-year coach is also well-versed in how to spin off inconsistent performances by the Pelicans. What was once seen as cover for a young roster now comes off as providing cover instead of requiring accountability.
“It was a lack of competitive spirit from our group. That’s not indicative of who we’ve been and who we are. But tonight, we took a step in the wrong direction,” Green said after being eliminated. “I thought the first quarter was solid. After that, they took it up another level and we didn’t match that at all. … Tonight was a total letdown.”
Getting the same mixed-bag results regarding ‘competitive spirit' after three years suggests the most recent performances are indicative of the team's character. It's fine to preach faith and trust for a while, but eventually, a team's identity is exactly what they put on the court. There needs to be more consistency in order for this team to reach its full potential.
“We’ve got to continue to trust pretty much. When the game gets hard, when teams pick up their physicality, you have to execute at an even higher level,” Green admitted in Las Vegas. “We started to go away from that on both ends of the floor, and that becomes deflating when we try to do it by ourselves.”
Green did try to mitigate the blowout with a comparison, almost excusing the lethargic loss by pointing out that “(The Pelicans) haven’t had the experiences that the Lakers have. They know what it takes to win games like that. They know what it takes to be on the big stage and have big moments. The level went up tonight and we didn’t match their intensity.”
The front office is on solid ground. Green must rise to the challenge soon or it will be more than the substitution patterns fans will be questioning. They'll be asking who should be the next head coach.
Pelicans locker room waiting for Zion Williamson to buy in
The Pelicans supporting cast is solid, but the heart and soul of the team is still in question. Williamson took a ‘back seat' a few weeks ago and the Pelicans have already held one team meeting. They've suffered through a five-game losing streak and also made an NBA In-Season Tournament semifinal run. This edition of the Pelicans has potential, but they need more from their two-time All-Star.
Hall of Famers called Williamson out following the embarrassing loss. Others started asking just how much Williamson would fetch in the trade market. It's a tough waiting game for a locker room needing Williamson to buy in fully for them to have any championship aspirations. The front office has to decide just how much longer they'll wait before entertaining offers.
Even Williamson had to admit, “I’ve got to be better. I’ve got to be more aggressive in finding my shot. I’ve got to do more things to get my team going. I think I was too laid back tonight. I can’t do that. Defensively, I’ve got to be better.”
Williamson added, “With situations like that, I’ve got to be more aggressive. It’s just as simple as that. I’ve just got to be more aggressive. I’ve got to be smarter on defense. I think a lot of times I’m overthinking it and I shouldn’t be doing that out there.”
He has to be more than just better. Williamson has to be his best self or the negative narratives surrounding his career will persist. The trade rumors and criticism over alleged weight issues will continue as well.
Slimming down and playing up to full potential is the only way to change the negative narratives. If not, evaluating his trade value and the rest of the roster is all the more difficult. It's far easier to be rid of a disgruntled star than it is to replace an entire roster and coaching staff.
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