Where Do Pelicans Stand in the Western Conference Power Rankings?

Barring unexpected developments between now and the start of the season, the New Orleans Pelicans will begin the 2026-27 campaign with the same roster as last year. Despite finishing 26-56 and looking like one of the worst teams in the league for most of the season, the Pelicans front office has decided to run it back.

The Pelicans are hoping that internal improvement from young players and a full season from Dejounte Murray will be enough to make them a more competitive team. Do they have a point? How do the Pelicans stack up against the rest of the Western Conference?

Pelicans Stood Pat While the Teams Around Them Got Better

New Orleans won 26 games last season, but had the point differential of a 30-win team, per Cleaning the Glass. They not only finished 11th in the West, but they also had a better net rating than the four teams behind them: the Mavs, Grizzlies, Jazz, and the Kings.

However, the context here is important. The Pelicans were the only team among this group that was trying to win games until the end of the season. Sacramento was also putting out competitive groups out there before pulling the plug in the final few weeks of the season.

The rest of these teams were trying to out-tank one another for lottery odds, while the Pelicans had no incentive to lose games. They had every reason to push for wins and finish with the best record possible.

These teams' records and net ratings until the trade deadline could provide more insight. Until the deadline, every team was trying to win. At that point, the Pelicans were 13-40 and were a half-game ahead of the last-place Sacramento Kings in the West. Only Utah and Sacramento had a worse record than the Pelicans at the trade deadline.

That may be a better representation of how good the Pelicans were last season.

The Pelicans front office may make the argument that the team was playing much better down the stretch because of Dejounte Murray's return. This is true, as the Pelicans had a +3.0 net rating with Murray on the floor. This was helped by the benching of Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, who had their fair share of struggles in their rookie campaigns.

Having a competent veteran guard like Murray certainly helped. But it's still difficult to know how much of the surge at the end of the season was related to almost a third of the league trying to lose games.

This will not be the case next season. The league changed the lottery rules to incentivize winning games for non-playoff teams. Teams with the three worst records are penalized with worse lottery odds, giving teams all the incentive in the world to win games until the end.

This has forced lottery teams to reload. The Grizzlies just drafted Cam Boozer, traded for Isaiah Stewart, and will have Zach Edey back. The Mavs will begin the season with Kyrie Irving as their starting point guard. Utah has a fascinating Keyonte George, Darryn Peterson, Lauri Markkanen, and Jaren Jackson Jr. quartet.

Moreover, none of the teams that finished above the Pelicans took a significant step back, except for the LA Clippers. Even after trading Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers still have the Darius Garland & Brandon Ingram duo, which should keep them somewhat competitive in the Play-In race.

The Sacramento Kings are the only team who look to be as terrible as they were last season in the Western Conference. The Pelicans should like their chances of finishing above them, but that might be it.

DraftKings is mostly aligned with this assessment in their odds. The Pelicans have the 13th-best odds to win the Western Conference next season, only above the Grizzlies and the Kings. As things stand now, it's impossible to put the Pelicans anywhere above that level, and I would also put them behind Memphis. For a team that has made zero offseason changes, that is certainly not where you want to be.

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