Pelicans On the Fence in ESPN's Future Power Ranking
The New Orleans Pelicans are 3-1 to start the 2022-23 season and have pulled out one big divisional win without Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. Willie Green looks like a top-10 caliber head coach and the front office foundation looks set for the next decade.
Despite all the evidence pointing to an extended championship window, ESPN's Future Power Rankings forecasts the New Orleans Pelicans as a middle-of-the-road franchise.
ESPN's Futures Rankings is based on a measurement of coaching talent, ownership stability, and executive direction as well as the current roster. The most current rankings are broken into five categories (players, management, money, draft, and market) and are a "projection of the on-court success expected for each team over the next three seasons: 2022-23, 2023-24 and 2024-25."
ESPN does give the front office credit for assembling a top-10 roster (10th) and draft war chest (7th). The Pelicans are docked for playing in a small market (21st) but at least the fanbase is given credit so the franchise is not in the bottom third of the NBA in that category. However, ESPN's calculations have New Orleans ranked 27th in the Money part of the spread sheet.
That's just laughable, as Gayle Benson is one of the most committed, engaged, and well-financed owners in the association. She attends road games, preseason games in Birmingham, and is active in ownership meetings while being a leading voice for the NBA Foundation, and that's just what makes the headlines.
Benson is the 15th richest NBA owner, with a net worth of almost $4 billion. The bottom six owners combined (Spurs, Thunder, Celtics, Suns, Lakers, Kings) barely touch Benson's overall wealth. The roster and draft assets also seem to be under appreciated.
The Pelicans are a top-6 seed championship hopefully out west with a very young roster and only Oklahoma City and perhaps Utah can lay claim to a more substantial draft savings account. ESPN has San Antonio, Houston, Indiana, and Orlando also ahead of the Pelicans in the draft category, who are closer to the Knicks according to ESPN's poll.
Management was ranked 15th. Middle of the road. ESPN is on the fence when it comes to grading David Griffin, Swin Cash, Trajan Langdon, and Aaron Nelson even though the roster and draft rankings are top-10 worthy. However, it's not something this franchise is worried about.
Brandon Ingram has stressed this team does not worry about outside noise. They are busy dancing to their own beat to meet their goals, not worrying about measuring up to outside expectations.
For comparison, the Memphis Grizzlies top these ESPN Futures rankings. The LA Clippers, Boston Celtics, Golden State Warriors, and Milwaulkee Bucks round out the top five. Philadelphia, Miami, Toronto, Denver, and Phoenix are just ahead of New Orleans in 11th overall. Those same ten teams are in the mix for the best odds to win the NBA Finals, and have been for years in most cases.
This deep team has picked up from where they left off in the playoffs and are showing they belong in the conversation. For every media personality still on the fence, there are several that see what is being built in the Big Easy. Ryen Russillo is just the latest to opine, "I don't know if anyone can go as deep as (the New Orleans Pelicans.)"
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