3 Biggest Challenges Facing Jamahl Mosley in 1st Year With Pelicans

The Pelicans newest head coach 's battle may be more than just what's on his current roster.

Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley in the first half against the Washington Wizards at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Russell Lansford-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When the New Orleans Pelicans chose Jamahl Mosley as their new head coach, it was clear both sides needed a change. The Pelicans were coming off a disastrous 26-win campaign and had already fired former head coach Willie Green just a few weeks into the new season. Mosley was relieved of his duties after leading the Orlando Magic to three straight playoff appearances, but never advancing past the first round in any of those series. Last year culminated with the Magic blowing a 3-1 series lead to the Detroit Pistons before losing in seven games. Mosley was released the next day.

Now he will be tasked with rebuilding the Pelicans much like he did the Magic when he first took the Orlando job back in 2021.

That Orlando team won 21 games before Mosley’s arrival and had missed the playoffs in seven of the previous nine seasons. New Orleans is coming off back-to-back sub-30-win seasons and hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2023-2024 season.

No doubt Mosley will face challenges from an unbalanced roster and clear defensive deficiencies, but his biggest hurdle may be the shadow of his former job in Orlando.

1. Bringing defensive identity to a Pelicans roster that lacks it

Defense is Mosley’s calling card, with his Orlando teams finishing in the top 11 defensively the last three years, including two top-three finishes in ’23 and '24. Meanwhile, the Pelicans were near the bottom of the league defensively, struggling specifically in opponents' points in the paint and defensive rebounding percentage.

Much of that stems from New Orleans' lack of legitimate size in the middle, with Zion Williamson and Derik Queen playing together most often of any frontcourt pairing.

The duo was horrendous defensively last season, with the team posting a -12.9 net rating and a 123.7 defensive rating in the 681 minutes they shared the court (per DataBallr). Mosley should benefit from having more diverse offensive weapons in New Orleans, but that didn’t help the Pelicans avoid struggling when it mattered most, late in games.

2. Pels will rely on Mosley to fix crunch-time woes

The Pelicans were 12-30 in clutch games last season, second-to-last, only ahead of the Brooklyn Nets. Much of the late-game inconsistency came from turnovers and a lack of direction on how the offense needed to run down the stretch.

Despite what many deemed an unimaginative offense in Orlando, the Magic thrived in those key regular-season moments. The Magic were the fifth-best clutch team last season, going 27-16 in clutch games. Those 27 wins were tied with the Detroit Pistons for the most clutch wins in the league. Mosley’s staff had a clear vision of expectations for their key players in late-game execution, and they delivered.

He'll need to set that standard early in New Orleans.

3. Depth and rotation decisions in Year 1

New Orleans’ roster is chock-full of guards and wings, which will make rotations a challenge early on. But the influx of viable wings that can contribute should be deemed a good thing, provided the mix of talent meshes well together on the court.

The Pelicans struggled last season to find that consistent mix, especially with bench rotational pieces. They were 22nd in bench plus-minus.

While the Magic were not substantially better, Orlando has been in the top 10 in bench scoring three of the five years Mosley was there, something the Pelicans have not done in the past five seasons.

Pelicans fans clamoring for change may expect Mosley to fix some of those deficiencies immediately, especially given that he succeeded in those areas last season.

A more realistic approach is to understand New Orleans hasn’t gotten substantially better from the roster that won only 26 games last year. Their biggest addition is Bennedict Mathurin, but he struggles in the one area the Pelicans need most offensively: consistent outside shooting.

Mosley’s challenges are well-documented and will no doubt present problems early and often in his tenure. Until upper management addresses the roster properly, the new head coach will have to manage what he has. Those hoping the change of scenery from Central Florida to the Crescent City will yield the same recent success may have to temper their expectations and let things play out for a bit.