Optimistically, the New Orleans Pelicans are a future contender hiding in plain sight, a powerhouse roster that could storm the upper echelon of the Western Conference playoffs as soon as next season. They have legitimate star power—Zion Williamson is a superstar, Brandon Ingram is on his way to becoming one and CJ McCollum is perhaps the most overqualified third option in the NBA—and more useful wing depth than you can shake a stick at. There are so many avenues for the Pelicans to get good this offseason; their roster is loaded, yet they still have 13 first round draft picks over the next eight years.
Pessimistically, the Pelicans are in the gutter. Losing to the Thunder in the play-in and missing the playoffs is embarrassing, yet not nearly as embarrassing as the protracted Zion Williamson saga that's improbably stretched into the Pelicans' offseason. Sidelined with a seemingly minor hamstring strain since early January, Williamson sat out a win-or-go-home postseason game that his team desperately wanted him to play in. His reason? He wasn't injured, he just didn't really feel like it.
In this sense, the Pelicans enter a pivotal, tricky offseason—they need to upgrade their roster, but they don't have a ton of flexibility to do so. Here are the three roster moves that the Pelicans must make to get back to the NBA Playoffs in 2024.
3. Unleash Trey Murphy III
The 17th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, Murphy exploded in the second of the season for the Pelicans. After averaging just 12.9 points per game in his first 56 games of the year, Murphy poured in 18.4 points per game in the final 23 games after the All-Star Break in February. Standing 6'9 with a 7'1 wingspan, Murphy is everything a wing should be. He's a monster athlete (he came in second place in the Dunk Contest this year for a reason) and one of the league's best shooters (40.6 percent on 6.3 three point attempts per game). To start the year, Murphy was relegated to the background of the Pelicans' offense, scrounging for catch-and-shoot threes whenever possible, but he steadily grew into bigger and more difficult usages.
If Murphy can handle a 18 percent usage rate so gracefully, what does he look like when he has a 22 percent one? Is there latent potential for a Mikal Bridges-style breakout, a true-blue offensive engine masquerading as a three-and-d guy? It's worth finding out! The Pelicans need another threatening offensive wing; they should do everything possible to see if Murphy is ready to be that guy.
2. Re-sign Herb Jones
If Murphy is their budding offensive star, Jones is their defensive anchor of the future. While Jones is still on his rookie contract and is currently one of the biggest bargains in sports (his $1.7 million salary makes him the NBA's 417th highest paid player), he'll be eligible for an extension as soon as this summer and the Pelicans would be wise to lock him down for the long haul—conservatively, his contract should land somewhere in the four year, $70ish million range. While it might seem aggressive to lavish such a big contract on a guy averaging under 10 points per game, Jones is more than worth it. In just his second season, Jones already has a very real chance to make an All-Defense team. As a rookie, Jones made his bones as a true one-on-one stopper, but he emerged as a dangerous off-ball defender in his sophomore year, refining his awareness as the low-man against pick and rolls and even handling increased responsibility switching onto big men. Every good team needs a guy like Herb Jones; luckily, the Pelicans already have him.
1. Protect Zion Williamson
All of this is moot if Zion Williamson isn't healthy. In terms of pure championship potential, he's the only variable that really matters. If he's healthy, the Pelicans are as good as any team in the West, a shoo-in for a lengthy run through the 2024 NBA Playoffs; if he's hurt, they're the 10th best team in their own conference, evidently.
The idea of a healthy Zion Williamson seems hopelessly far-fetched right now, but he also represents the easiest—and perhaps only—way for the Pelicans to reach their collective potential. When he's on the court, he's a monster, a no-doubt top 15ish player in the world who presents defenses with a problem that's impossible to solve.
But with Williamson bobbing in and out (well, mostly out) of the lineup, the Pelicans haven't had the opportunity to develop any chemistry or cohesion; the team was designed specifically with him in mind. The Pelicans don't really make sense without him and don't even really have the capacity to make sense without him.
As such, the number one priority for New Orleans has to be preserving Williamson's body in any way possible, but that's admittedly easier said than done.
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