Can we stop pretending?
Can we finally let go of any notion that the New Orleans Pelicans can do anything meaningful with this basketball season?
The Pelicans are 4-18, losers of nine consecutive games, 14 of their last 15, and 18 of their last 20 since opening the season with two straight wins.
Thirteen of their 18 losses have been by double digits, with the Pels losing by an average of more than 17 points per game.
New Orleans is dead last in the Western Conference standings and ranks 29th in the entire NBA in offense, 28th in defense, and 29th in net rating (-12.9). The Pels are closer to the 30th-ranked Washington Wizards (-15.0) than they are to the 28th-ranked Utah Jazz (-10.3).
As of Dec. 4, the team has less than a two percent chance of making the postseason.
Over a quarter of the season, the Pelicans have never seen their “big four” of Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, and Zion Williamson on the court together. Not in the preseason. Not in the regular season. Not for one minute.
Though the team has had more than its share of injuries, the Pelicans are outplayed and outcoached more often than they are outmanned. They look broken and confused.
However, the greatest share of the on-court blame must go to the players with the greatest talent.
The duo of Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram has once again failed to meet expectations.
Williamson, who was reportedly in the best shape of his career before the season, has appeared in only six games so far; missing games for everything from an undisclosed illness to his current hamstring strain. When he did play, Zion only showed flashes of brilliance, while posting some of the worst offensive numbers of his career.
Zion, whose game requires that he be an elite finisher around the rim on a nightly basis, had a career-low .462 effective field goal percentage when he went down, dropping from his previous worst of .573% set a season ago. That number has fallen for four consecutive seasons, since Williamson’s career-best .616% back in 2020-21.
The Pelicans’ offensive rating with Zion on the floor is a career-low 105 per 100 possessions. Though it has also dropped for the fourth straight season, the Pelicans averaged a 121 rating over the previous three seasons with Zion on the floor.
Defensively, the Pelicans are the worst they’ve ever been with Williamson, posting a 118 defensive rating per 100 possessions after averaging 113.3 over the last three seasons.
Zion’s work ethic and fitness are in question, with a viral episode surrounding his latest tattoo, and his peers openly discussing his future in New Orleans. Williamson has appeared in only 190 games since being drafted first overall in 2019 and currently has no timetable for his return.
There has even been talk of the team utilizing provisions in Williamson’s contract to waive the sixth-year forward. ESPN basketball insider Shams Charania reported that remains an unlikely scenario.
The season hasn’t gone much better for the franchise’s other “superstar,” Brandon Ingram.
Ingram has been available, until lately, as he’s missed six of the last seven games. His scoring average is up nearly two points from a season ago (22.9, 20.8). His three-point attempts have nearly doubled and his percentage is up from last year.
However, B.I. hasn’t shown much growth in his offensive repertoire either. Ingram is taking more threes but doesn’t take “the right” threes. He’s rarely in the corners and remains below average, as a shooter, compared to the rest of the league. He doesn’t drive to the basket, doesn’t convert at a high rate when he does, and doesn’t get to the free-throw line.
His overall offensive numbers are mostly down from his career in New Orleans, and considerably so from his peak during his first two seasons with the Pelicans.
| 3P% | eFG% | FT% | TS% | Ftr | 3PAr | TsAdd | |
| 2024-25 | .364 | .527 | .830 | .553 | .152 | .345 | -13.6 |
| Pelicans career (2019-25) | .371 | .524 | .847 | .576 | .306 | .280 | 43.3 |
| 2019-21 | .386 | .531 | .863 | .585 | .313 | .345 | 86.2 |
Since being named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2020, how much has Brandon Ingram gotten better? Not enough for the Pelicans to offer him a max-level contract extension before the season began. Not enough for the team to pass up the opportunity to shop Ingram during the offseason only to find few interested takers.
Ingram has already changed agents, a sign that he believes the deal he wants is out there. It doesn’t appear there would be many teams that would agree. Now in his ninth season, Ingram isn’t viewed as a lesser Kevin Durant-type who could potentially become a franchise cornerstone.
After his disastrous appearance with Team USA, and more than a season of listless basketball, Ingram’s perception, outside of his rabid fan base, is far less glowing.
It’s been quite the fall from grace from the tandem that head coach Willie Green called “the best freaking duo in the NBA” not long ago.
Gone is the optimism that erupted from the city of New Orleans when the Pelicans won the right to select Williamson with the first pick more than five years ago.
The franchise is no closer to a championship than it was then. The team is trapped in a cycle of mediocrity.
I didn’t make the rules. In the NBA, at least one of your players has to be an MVP-caliber performer. One of the five best players in the world. The Pelicans don’t have anyone close to that right now and they certainly shouldn’t be making any more long-term financial commitments to players who can’t elevate the franchise past the first round of the playoffs.
Neither Zion Williamson nor Brandon Ingram has proven themselves worthy of the title “franchise player.” Neither has led the Pelicans to anything other than disappointment.
The organization must shoulder some blame as David Griffin and company have made poor choices in the draft, in free agency, and with head coaches.
Ironically, Williamson and Ingram had arguably their greatest individual seasons under Stan Van Gundy, the coach with the most successful resume of any of Griffin’s hires.
Though Van Gundy has long denied any belief that any players had something to do with his firing after the 2020-21 season, there were reports that Williamson’s camp, Ingram, and Josh Hart, did not want to see the coach return for a second season.
It was clear to Van Gundy that he and Griffin “were on two totally different pages.” That was despite the tremendous growth the team showed during the season on the defensive end while playing the type of offensive basketball favored across the league.
Instead, the Pelicans have no identity on either end. Instead, the fans embrace anger and apathy.
The experiment has failed. It’s time to move in a new direction.
The Pelicans could choose to chase another play-in berth, once again kicking the can into the future on the promise that next year will be different.
Everyone will be healthy.
“We’re going to figure it out.”
Enough of the promises. The time to tear it down has come.
If it isn’t already overdue.
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Yep the experiment is done. There was some hope with SVG, but since then there doesn’t seem to be 100% player buy-in and bad coaching with a group that really should have a lot of continuity, but play like a nightly pick up game with guys that never met.