Pelicans Are Asleep at the Wheel While Rivals Make the Moves They Should Be Making

Joe Dumars and Troy Weaver may not be aware, but we have entered the fourth week of free agency. The New Orleans Pelicans have yet to make a single addition to their roster, despite winning only 26 games last season. For some reason, the front office seems content with keeping the same core that won fewer than 30 games in back-to-back campaigns.

What the plan exactly is in New Orleans is not clear. Even if the top brass thinks this team can be better with internal improvement, not making any moves is inexplicable. Sure, don't trade Trey Murphy, Zion Williamson, or Herb Jones, but at least try to give them a fighting chance by building a roster that makes sense.

As things stand right now, the Pelicans are projected to have the worst center rotation in the league for the second straight season.

This is especially frustrating when the teams around the Pelicans have been making moves to upgrade their roster. The rest of the league is making the moves that New Orleans should be making.

Pelicans Watch as Teams Around Them Make Savvy Moves

Two moves from this offseason fall into this category. First, it was the New York Knicks making an offer sheet for Moussa Cisse of the Dallas Mavericks. It was eventually matched by Dallas who wanted to keep the 23-year-old center around. This was a two-year, $4.7 million offer sheet. The Pelicans had significantly more cap room than the Knicks and could have signed Cisse to an offer sheet that the Mavs wouldn't have been able to match.

Instead, the Pels watched another young center with upside get off the market.

Another move the Pelicans could have made was the Zaccharie Risacher trade Dallas pulled off on Sunday. This wouldn't have solved the Pelicans' center need, but it was a smart asset play that landed the Mavs a 21-year-old former No. 1 overall pick.

Dallas only had to give up Ryan Nembhard and take back Risacher, as the Hawks were just happy to get off Risacher's contract so that they could acquire Lu Dort. The Pelicans could have easily beaten that offer and added a high-upside prospect.

These are the types of moves the Pelicans could have been chasing this summer but have decided against. Add this to the list of missed opportunities from New Orleans, like signing Quinten Post, Jaxson Hayes, or Mark Williams, or trading for Nic Claxton and Isaiah Stewart, and Pelicans fans have every right to be frustrated with their quiet offseason.

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