Pelicans Are Making a Mistake by Not Already Selling on the Trade Market

With this season already a disaster, should the New Orleans Pelicans blow it up at the deadline?

Jan 7, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado (15), forward Zion Williamson (1), and forward Herbert Jones (2) react during the second half against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images | Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Pelicans are more than a quarter through the season and already find themselves in the basement of the NBA at 4-22. Any hope coming into the year quickly vanished once the team got off to such a slow start that it led to the dismissal of their former head coach, Willie Green. Things haven’t improved: the Pelicans have the second-worst record in the league.

Two of their best players, Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole have dealt with injuries all season, and the draft-night trade to acquire rookie forward Derik Queen still looms over the franchise like a dark cloud. Yes, Queen has been impressive to start the season, but the Pelicans seem destined to surrender their potential top-five pick next season to the Atlanta Hawks since that pick is unprotected. Not much is going right in the Big Easy, yet the team doesn’t seem keen to make any moves at the deadline, according to recent reports.

The Pelicans have not had any conversations with teams regarding Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, or Zion Williamson per source familiar with the matter

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) December 6, 2025

Pelicans Need to Blow It Up at the Trade Deadline

Williamson is in danger of playing fewer than 30 games in a season for the fifth time in his career. The two-time All-Star is sidelined for at least three weeks with a right adductor strain in his hip. His extensive injury history no doubt devalues his trade market significantly, but how much longer can the Pelicans play this game with the former No.1 overall pick? The emergence of their young rookies should make the seemingly inevitable decision to part ways with Williamson an easier pill to swallow.

Queen is averaging 16.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and shooting 52.0 percent over his last 11 games and just posted a 33-point triple-double. He became the first rookie in NBA history with 30+ points, 10+ rebounds, 10+ assists, and 3+ blocks in a single game. His rookie mate, Jeremiah Fears, has also been impressive this year,  chipping in 15.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists, and 1.4 steals in his 25 games.

Both rookies are the only players on the team to appear in all 26 games this season, and they have performed well, setting the stage as the team's building blocks moving forward. Who those other building blocks are remains to be seen.

The Pelicans do not have any picks next year, with their first-round pick heading to the Hawks as part of the Queen draft night trade. They do not have a second-round pick until 2030, and for now, they have committed around $66 million in salary cap space next year to a starting backcourt that has not played together this season. Dejounte Murray is rehabbing from an Achilles injury he suffered last year. Some reports suggest he is targeting a January return, but no official word has been released yet. It would seem a move should be made, but the team is standing pat for now.

One player who does have some trade value is defensive specialist Herb Jones. The former second-round pick could command multiple first-round picks because of his defensive production and team-friendly contract, but a new report by The Athletic's Dan Woike suggested the Pelicans are not interested in trading him now, despite teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors rumored to be interested in his services.

It would seem unwise for New Orleans to adopt a wait-and-see approach to the deadline, allowing other teams to set the value line for trades. The Pelicans should be keen on acquiring as many assets as possible to build around their young nucleus.

Executive Vice President Joe Dumars has stated that he is prioritizing "culture" and "really good young players" with strong intangibles, such as defense, toughness, and high IQ. Unfortunately, the Pelicans have no real culture, having made it past the first round of the playoffs only twice in franchise history. To establish culture, you have to win, and New Orleans isn’t equipped to do that as presently constructed.