The New Orleans Pelicans started the 2022-23 season off red hot, jumping up into the top half of the Western Conference playoff race behind some stellar play from their stars, as Zion Williamson was playing at an All-Star level and Brandon Ingram was enjoying the best season of his career. However, as has been the story far too often for the Pelicans in recent years, the inability to stay healthy derailed what looked to be a team taking the leap.
Brandon Ingram suffered a toe injury in late November that kept him out for two months, while Williamson played 29 games before having his season ended by a hamstring injury that he aggravated multiple times during his ramp up to returning to the court. It was an all too familiar refrain for the Pelicans, who fought their way into the Play-In as the 9-seed, but lost the first game to the Thunder, unable to replicate their run to the postseason in 2022. However, the form they showed in the first third of the season makes it hard not to believe in the potential of this team, provided they can all stay on the court — which has proven to be an insurmountable hurdle thus far.
There aren’t many holes in the roster when healthy, with some terrific, versatile complementary players around their young star duo, along with a veteran secondary star in CJ McCollum. For that reason, they’ve stayed mostly quiet this offseason, hoping next season can finally be the one where they can evaluate what this group’s ceiling truly is.
Here we’ll grade out the Pelicans offseason moves in the Draft, free agency and contract extensions, and on the trade market.
Draft: B
The Pelicans had the last pick in the lottery at No. 14, and used it on Jordan Hawkins out of UConn. The 6’5 shooting guard was one of the best shooters in this year’s Draft, and his ability to fly around screens and knock down shots could get him into some regular season action this year on the back end of the rotation. As our Brad Rowland noted on Draft night, there’s work to do on the other end of the court, but the shooting is an immediate NBA skill and that’s always a good thing to add to your roster.
New Orleans doesn’t have a ton of glaring needs, but more shooting is something the Pelicans can use. Hawkins brings it as the best off-ball mover in the class and a proven, dynamic shooter. He’s not a great defender and has limited size on the wing, but the offense should play.
Free Agency/Contract Extensions: B+
The Pelicans haven’t made a lot of moves this summer, and their one significant signing came as a bit of a surprise when they declined Herbert Jones’ very cheap team option in favor of signing him to a long-term deal. Jones agreed to a 4-year, $54 million deal with the Pelicans when free agency opened, as New Orleans locks up one of the league’s premier defensive wings for the foreseeable future. While they could’ve had him for under $2 million next season, I do like this move for the Pelicans because they effectively got to negotiate this deal with him before he really explored what the open market could’ve been next summer. For someone with his talents on the defensive end, $13.5 million per year is a pretty good value, especially given the importance of having a versatile wing defender like that on this roster to alleviate the pressure on their stars.
Elsewhere, the Pelicans have been quiet, signing Cody Zeller to a minimum deal to backup Jonas Valanciunas as Zeller comes off a solid close to the season in Miami. They also re-signed EJ Liddell, which was good to see after Liddell’s knee injury at Summer League a year ago. Otherwise, this team will look an awful lot like last year’s, which is understandable as they have a deep roster already and just need the high-end guys to stay healthy to allow that depth to shine around them rather than asking them to fill a void they simply cannot.
Trades: INC
The Pelicans have stayed away from the trade market this summer, albeit there were some rumblings they were interested in pursuing the No. 2 or No. 3 pick due to their infatuation with Scoot Henderson. Ultimately nothing came of those talks, as they reportedly balked at requests for Brandon Ingram. The most interesting thing to come out of the Pelicans trade rumors this summer was there was no pushback on the reports Zion Williamson was involved in talks, indicating that was at least a consideration — albeit with a very high asking price in return.
While publicly all parties involved have continued to insist they’re still excited about their future together, the dynamics between Zion and the Pelicans are going to be fascinating to watch going forward, as it’s understandable why the team would be frustrated to this point with their hopeful franchise cornerstone. His struggles staying on the court, coupled with his stumbles into off court headlines this summer, make for headaches internally, but there’s no denying that when he’s played he has been nothing short of sensational. This year they’re running it back one more time in hopes to finally see what all this could become, but if there are more injury issues, there’s only so long you can stay patient before making significant changes.
