Pelicans Offseason Guide

The New Orleans Pelicans are coming off an exciting season where they went from starting off 1-12 to pushing the #1 seeded Suns to 6 games…without their star player Zion Williamson. The future is Bright for NOLA.

This season they will be looking to make another push in the playoffs and hopefully finish better than the 9th seed. We will be taking a look at what their team needs and options for this next season. For their sake, we will be discussing this topic as though Zion will be coming back ready to play.

NEEDS:

1. 3pt shooting

2. Rim Protection

3. Quality Guard Defenders

The Pelicans finished dead last (30th) in 3PM per game last season, 27th in 3PA, and 27th in 3 point percentage. With Zion hopefully coming back, you would hope the team can raise these stats up next season. However, the team looked better from deep after trading away Tomas Satoranksy and NAW and dropping Garrett Temple from the rotation.

Although Jonas Valanciunas is not a negative defender, he is not elite. This combo-ed with Larry Nance playing the small-ball 5 (who is a great defender, just not a fantastic rim defender) leaves the basket a bit vulnerable.

Pelicans ranked 20th in defensive efficiency and 22nd in opponent 3pt percentage (36.2%) Numbers that will prohibit the Pelicans from being potential contenders. Furthermore, pelicans guards are undersized and some (Graham especially) get targeted on defense. Although it got better throughout the season, it still has room for improvement and some simple changes to be made.

How can this get better next season? The biggest spot for improvement is from the bench. Devonte Graham had poor shooting efficiency from his standards–especially after February. It is said he was playing through a hip injury so hopefully he comes back better next season. If not, his minutes are replaceable. Two other questions are Jose Alvarado and Naji Marshall. Both are not statistically the best from deep and teams aren't scared to let them shoot. Lastly, a really good shooting 5 would be interesting next to Zion, JV shot pretty well on low volume from 3 but was not a real threat in the playoffs.

Moves to make:

1. My personal favorite move for the Pels also helps out their rim protection issue–Mo Bamba. Mo shot 38% from 3 last season on high volume. He loves to catch and shoot from the right wing and would fit perfectly next to Zion and BI. He is at the very top of the league at a 6% block rate providing great rim protection. Bamba even tweeted this postseason about how he would love to play for a coach like Willie Green. Mo is a RFA and does not seem to be in the Magic’s long term plans. Should be available for a cheap sign-and-trade. He is the perfect counterpart option to JV and Nance. You have your dominant offensive center, small-ball center, and your shooting rim protector center. A triple threat from Heaven

1. Swap Devonte Graham for a more defensive minded and more consistent guard. My pick is Alec Burks. A career 3pt shooter of 38% and shooting 40%+ over the last three seasons while being 6’6 and adequate defender seems like a no-brainer to me. You get rid of a defensive liability and bring in a plus defender who is way taller and longer and actually puts effort on defense. Burks also is more consistent from 3 than Graham and has a better shot selection than random kinda contested deep 3’s. It is just that simple. The contracts balance out. New Orleans has second rounders or even a Bucks first to spare. With the Knicks plethora of Guards and Vets, Burks should be a relatively easy get.

1. The Draft pick. The Pelicans have the 8th pick in the 2022 NBA Draft via the Lakers. The Pelicans need to use this pick with the future in mind, not just this season. Do not just go draft a 3pt shooter just because its a current need. Think long term. An NBA who can only shoot 3’s can be acquired at a relatively low cost, especially a Vet. The biggest flaw to me is the pelicans Guard Versatility–especially on defense. Jose is a good defender but is not very switchable. DG is tiny and a bad defender. CJ is decent. Kira is tiny and not much has been shown from him. The Pels need to take a note from the Celtics and draft a big versatile guard. The pick is Dyson Daniels. How valuable is a 6’8 lengthy guard with high IQ, great defensive instincts, quality passing, poise, and knows his role. Many knock his shot…for a decent reason too. The first 14 games of the season he shot 25% from 3. However, the last 15 games he up’ed that number 35% and 45% over the last 6 games. He then shot lights out at his Pro-day where his form looked smooth and much quicker.

At 6’8 a guard who defends multiple positions well, provides decent weak side rim protection, does not need the ball but creates for others, and has a good looking 3 ball, sign me up for that. That is where the future of the NBA is headed. Dyson Daniels is going to be more of a role player. He will not go and drop 40 every night but he plays winning basketball. He is the perfect role player for the Pelicans

Imagine the team depth to have Jose, Alec Burks, Dyson Daniels, Trey Murphy, Larry Nance, and Mo Bamba off the bench. The different rotations you could have are so intriguing.

Need more space for Zion? CJ, Burks, Trey, Zion, Bamba.

Need defensive versatility? Dyson, BI, Trey, Herb, Nance.

You have those rotations and more combined with the starting lineup and the Pelicans will have a shot to be legit contenders as long as Zion is somewhat healthy.

Trade for Alec Burks. Acquire Mo Bamba. Draft Dyson Daniels.

Improve your 3pt shooting, defense, and versatility.

Watch out for the next 5+ Years.