Pelicans Are Setting Their Fans Up for Frustration in the Offseason

The New Orleans Pelicans will seemingly do the opposite of what their fans hope they do this offseason.

Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The New Orleans Pelicans are facing a ton of pressure heading into summer to take a big step forward next season. After back-to-back seasons at the bottom of the Western Conference despite trying to chase a postseason spot, the Pelicans are desperate to show improvement. They hope that the Jamahl Mosley hiring will serve this objective.

Ever since the Mosley decision was announced, the Pelicans have been signaling their intention to be as competitive as possible next season. They have seemingly not learned their lesson from the previous two seasons and will mostly bring back the same core from last year.

Everyone But the Pelicans Understand What They Have to Do This Offseason

Everyone outside the Pelicans organization knows that the right path forward for New Orleans is to tear it down and start rebuilding from the bottom. Embracing the future around Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears, the Pelicans should move on from their veterans with trade value like Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, and Zion Williamson. This will help them accumulate future assets and draft capital.

Unfortunately, that seems like the opposite path the Pelicans want to be on. Joe Dumars and Mosley have both talked about the roster as if it is ready to compete. Mosley referred to it as "on the cusp" and said that Williamson is only scratching the surface. Both decision-makers said that they want to build around Williamson and see whether he can give them more next season.

Somehow, seven years with the organization weren't enough for the top brass to determine whether they could build a winner around Zion. The same core that has won fewer than 30 games in consecutive seasons is all of a sudden expected to make the postseason in a loaded Western Conference.

The Pelicans made the mistake of giving up an unprotected first-round pick last offseason to acquire Derik Queen. That asset mismanagement and roster misevaluation cost the Pelicans the No. 8 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. Now, the Pelicans don't have the means to add to their roster this summer.

The only way the Pelicans can upgrade the roster is by giving up even more draft capital. The combination of desperation and being asset-poor, like the Pelicans, results in poor decisions. New Orleans is more likely to give up future assets for win-now moves this summer than to do the right thing and build slowly. This will only set them up for mediocre seasons at best in the future, much to the fanbase's frustration.