Upcoming Pelicans Schedule Could Bring the End of the Willie Green Era

The New Orleans Pelicans have a brutal schedule in their next five games.

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

There have been plenty of desultory losses for the New Orleans Pelicans through the first three weeks of the season. Once again dealing with a frustrating number of injuries, the Pelicans have been non-competitive in far too many games. Yet, perhaps none of these losses was as disappointing as Monday night's loss to the Suns.

The Pelicans fell behind by double digits early in the second quarter and never showed enough fight to come back. The team failed to get good looks against a mediocre Suns defense all night and ended up throwing in the towel at halftime.

Currently sitting at the bottom of the Western Conference with only two wins in ten games, the Pelicans are facing a brutal schedule over the next ten days. They don't play a team with a losing record in the next five games, and will not be favored in any of the matchups despite being at home in all of them. Unless the Pelicans pull off a minor miracle in two of these games, Willie Green's already hot seat could catch fire.

Pelicans May Be 2-13 in the Blink of an Eye

Starting on Wednesday, New Orleans will face the Blazers, Lakers, Warriors, Thunder, and the Nuggets in that order. The game against OKC will come on the second night of a back-to-back. The Thunder are the last team in the NBA you want to play in that situation, and things could get ugly at Smoothie King Center that night. An embarrassing home loss on the back of a five-game losing streak could be the last drop in the bucket for Green.

The Pelicans hope to get Zion Williamson back during this tough home stretch. Based on the initial reporting, the All-Star power forward and his strained hamstring are expected to be re-evaluated before the matchup against the Blazers. If he were to return, it would give the Pelicans' offense a much-needed boost. A more prolonged absence, however, could signal another lost season for the Pelicans and force the team to take more radical decisions.

Those decisions could include trading any or all of the veteran starters with any value, including Williamson, Herb Jones, and Trey Murphy. This would obviously kickstart an entirely new era in New Orleans. Regardless of whether the Pelicans go that route, Willie Green would almost certainly be the scapegoat. How much time he has left in New Orleans will largely depend on how the next five games go for the Pelicans.