The New Orleans Pelicans' latest difficulties in the Big Easy came without the comfort of their first-round pick.
Though the NBA Playoffs are in full swing, the buzzer has sounded for several other teams on the Association's ledger.
As it stands, 14 teams were forced to focus on a different kind of ball during the hardwood holidays, as ping-pong balls decided their respective fates at the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery. This year's draft class is stocked with prime talents that will hopefully lead these teams out of the mire, but it's worth analyzing how they got into these situations in the first place.
With that in mind, Ballislife looks back on the voyages of the damned, going in order of top lottery odds. We head further south with part seven, which turns to the New Orleans Pelicans ...
Team: New Orleans Pelicans
Record: 26-56
Last Playoff Appearance: 2024
Where They'll Pick: 58th (traded first-round pick)
What Went Wrong
Like many a night on Bourbon Street gone bad, the Pelicans' Big Easy endeavor was doomed from the start.
New Orleans apparently had at least some brand of expectation under newly-hired executive Joe Dumars: eager to land Maryland center Derik Queen with the 13th overall pick at last summer's draft, the Pelicans swapped choices with the Atlanta Hawks in a deal that also sacrificed their 2026 first-round choice.
It was clear that the choice would quickly become a wanted, regretful commodity ... and that was before the Pelicans gave the Indiana Pacers back a 2026 first-rounder for the 23rd choice they eventually sent to Atlanta ... a choice that became fifth overall on Brooklyn's upcoming draft (which has since shifted to the Los Angeles Clippers).
The Pels got off to a dreadful 3-22 start, which yielded the firing of head coach Willie Green. In a continued common theme of these non-playoff cases, medical reports played a part in the struggles. Zion Williamson, it should be noted, reached the 60-game mark for just the third time in his career (though he was spared from the throes of the opening woes). But wishing for Williamson's health turned out to be a double-edged sword for the Pelican faithful.
Dejounte Murray was only able to return from last year's torn Achilles injury when all was lost in February and made just 14 appearances. That prevented Dumars' desired core of Murray, Williamson, Herb Jones, and Trey Murphy from generating any united momentum. Offseason headliner Kevon Looney was reunited with fellow former Warrior Jordan Poole and the two played 60 games together.
Even before the dangerous draft gambit, the first stages of the Dumars era was also held by the mistakes of predecessor David Griffin. Beyond Murphy and veteran breakout Saddiq Bey (the primary yield from a deal with Washington headlined by CJ McCollum), the Pelicans had few viable 3-point threats in an Association ruled by the deep ball and had to trade one of its most reliable shooters and leaders, Jose Alvarado, to the contending New York Knicks at the deadline. Alvarado's departure meant bidding farewell to another well-edged puzzle piece that helped pave the way to success, as the team has yet to properly replace Jonas Valančiūnas.
Top Silver Lining
Though he and his team appear to be sitting on their hands this time around, Dumars at least made the most of the picks he did make, as both Jeremiah Fears and Queen figure to be lasting starters at the professional level.
Fears emerged in the absence of Murray and introduced himself to the Association with strong athleticism while he found his shooting game. At just 19, Fears probably isn't ready to serve as a lead playmaker or shooter quite yet, but did provide a sterling foundation and generated a sense of hustle that hasn't been present in New Orleans' backcourt in a while. Queen, the yield of Dumars' risky trade, is no doubt a work in progress on defense but was one the top frontcourt freshmen on the offensive end.
Through reasons both within and beyond their control, the Pelcians' Williamson era is teetering on the brink of oblivion. Fears and Queen provides an instant chance for redemption and bayou leadership, led by Dumars and general manager Troy Weaver, have hitched their fates to their respective wagons.
Looking Ahead
With no help coming in the draft barring a trade (New Orleans owns only the third-to-last pick as of press time), the Pelicans have to decide which core to roll with. Griffin put up a top-heavy group while Dumars has quickly assembled a young band that has the ability to succeed in the athletic settings of the modern Association.
The Pelicans don't have to fully start from scratch as they keep fostering Fears and Queen (Vyes Missi is also another fun project), but it stands to reason the team's going to look different. That's obviously natural for a team that goes consecutive seasons with less than 30 wins, but the real uncomfortable truth is that they can't afford it: Murphy, Murray, Poole, and Williamson alone are due $135 million alone. Few of their free agents (except maybe team option depth star Karlo Matkovic, a streaky 3-point shooter) is worth splurging on and their potential extensions (such as a $213 million tally for Poole, who fell out of the rotation by the end of the year) are even scarier.
Williamson is often a popular pick when penning offseason trade suggestion articles, but the fact he was able to stay on the floor is a newfound twist to his story and any potential sequels in the Big Easy. Nonetheless, he can be a cornerstone in a big trade that nets assets both now and later, so it's not time to stitch his 2026-27 jersey just yet. Murray has played 45 games with New Orleans over the last two seasons and has perhaps become redundant with Fears' emergence. It's a testament to Jones' progress that Dumars included him in the same category as Williamson, but maybe it's best to cut him loose before extension talks get awkward.
Also worth wondering is what the team will do with the top quarter-zip. Interim boss James Borrego had reportedly drawn interest in head coaching hunts and there's no denying his guidance (and, admittedly, better health) put the Pelicans on a better path. His 24-46 record in relief obviously won't be at the top of the Gregg Popovich disciple's resume but the Pelicans did appear in the upper half of both field goal percentage and offensive rating once the calendar flipped to February (ranking at or near the bottom in those and several other categories during the final portions of 2025).
Is There Hope?
There's certainly a fertile foundation to work with in the forms of Fears and Queen. Whether that chapter can co-exist with the Williamson era, however, is the question that will come to define the Pelicans' present and future.
Embracing a new era with Fears, Queen, and a premier pick that comes about through trading some combination of Williamson, Murray, Murphy, and Jones, feels like the prudent path forward. It seems as though the Pelicans know the right thing to do would be start to anew, but they seem to be working with the idea it's never been fully proven that the current core can'tsucceed in collaboration.
Players like Murray and Williamson certainly shouldn't be condemned for getting hurt in a physical game. But the Pelicans, alas, are not running a health clinic and have far too much talent at the top end to be wallowing among the tankers.
For any of their perceived flaws, Dumars and Weaver appear to be nothing if not loyal to their current core. Whether their invest into such a virtue proves to be their respective redemptions or undoings is the quandary that will come to define Big Easy basketball.
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Geoff Magliocchetti is on X @GeoffJMags
