Zion Williamson rumors, Willie Green's status and draft targets: Pelicans mailbag
With the NBA Draft a month away, the rumor mill around the league should start heating up soon, but the chatter will probably be quiet around the New Orleans Pelicans.
After dropping a few spots in the lottery and landing the No. 7 pick in the first round, New Orleans won't play a factor in the Ace Bailey debate or the speculation that there could be a surprise name that jumps into the top five.
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The Pelicans still have a chance to land a quality contributor at No. 7. It's just going to require some patience. That will probably be an overarching theme around the Pelicans this season.
For those who have been patiently awaiting another one of our mailbags, today's your lucky day. Let's get into some questions submitted by our readers about the draft, potential trades, the future with new executive vice president of basketball Joe Dumars in charge and, of course, Zion Williamson.
Here we go!
(Some questions have been edited for length and clarity.)
What odds would you put on a Zion trade this summer? – Louis G.
Let's go ahead and get this one out of the way.
Yes, the Pelicans were very intentional with their decision to make Williamson the team's on-stage representative at the NBA Draft Lottery a few weeks ago (and Williamson's decision to be there was also intentional).
Yes, it's very unlikely Williamson gets moved in a trade before the 2025-26 season starts. There's already been communication between Williamson, his camp and Dumars on several occasions. All parties feel pretty good about where things stand with the Pelicans-Williamson marriage heading into next season.
Yes, I can understand why that decision can be frustrating for fans hoping for a much more thorough reset after the Brandon Ingram trade last February and the decision to fire David Griffin at the end of the season.
Ultimately, it's really difficult to give up on Williamson when he was playing the best basketball of his career during the second half of last season. He was in the best shape of his career and it was the most impact he's made on both ends of the court.
If he picks up where he left off and performs at the same level next season, New Orleans will be one of the wild cards in the Western Conference. Of course, he has to stay healthy. If he can't, the Pelicans will be right back in the lottery next summer.
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I can't blame them for taking the risk when the potential Williamson can reach is so high. No realistic Williamson trade package would've brought back a return that could match everything Williamson brings when he's healthy and locked in.
However, I'd also expect this regime to have far less patience with Williamson if he doesn't stay on the right path or if injuries become an issue again.
With Ingram gone and Dejounte Murray sidelined for at least the first few months of the season, this team needs Williamson to perform like a superstar, and be on the floor consistently.
Why should we be hopeful about a Dumars/Willie Green pairing? – James C.
Should Dumars repeat a big Griffin mistake and retain our head coach? If memory serves me, that led to three different coaches in three years. Who would you like to see come in and take over? – Paul S.
Shout-out to James for wording his question really well.
For those who are skeptical of the Dumars hiring, it's unfair to assume he'll fail purely based on some of the poor decisions he made at the end of his Detroit Pistons tenure in the early 2010s or the fact it's been more than a decade since he was in charge of running an organization. However, he doesn't have an obvious path to follow.
When the Pelicans hired Griffin to be the lead executive for the organization in 2019, fans were hopeful and supported him due to Williamson's arrival and the expectation that he could get a significant return in the Anthony Davis trade. Even though the Pelicans were starting over, everyone knew Griffin had the pieces to start this rebuild on the right foot.
Things are much different now. Upon his arrival, Dumars won't be leading a complete rebuild with this group. Green will still be his head coach. Williamson will still be the best player on the team. Trey Murphy, Herb Jones and Yves Missi will remain pivotal building blocks for the present and the future.
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Dumars' success in his first year will probably be judged less by his moves to improve the roster and more by the nuanced things he does behind the scenes to shift the culture in New Orleans.
This team doesn't need an overhaul of the roster. It just needs the players who are currently on the roster to suit up and play consistently. If Dumars can make that happen, he'll look like a genius. If Williamson, Murphy and Jones miss close to as many games as they did last year, everyone will say the Dumars hire was a disaster.
There will be no simple way to win over fans. Dumars will have to gain the confidence of folks in New Orleans by making shrewd moves to bolster this roster and demanding more from his star players on and off the court.
As for the front office/coach pairing, I agree that the decision to keep Green feels similar to Griffin, when he was hired in 2019, retaining Alvin Gentry as head coach. One year later, Gentry was out as head coach and the relationship between he and Griffin deteriorated because they never quite clicked.
While he has his deficiencies, it's tough to blame Green for the way last season turned out in New Orleans. The injuries last year's team dealt with were truly unprecedented, and it's wrong to ignore the progress the team made under him in previous years.
Whenever people were down on Green, I've always pointed out that he's shown a willingness to grow and adapt during his four seasons with the Pelicans. He's been open to trying different strategies and lineup combinations. He's remained adaptable whenever injuries arose.
He's got to show that next sign of development by being more innovative with the offence and his decision-making late in games, but having a young coach who's still growing should be considered an asset for New Orleans.
Most executives end up hand-picking their coach for a reason. Alignment at every level of organization is a pivotal part of success. Even if the Pelicans succeed early on, that dynamic between Dumars and Green will be at the forefront whenever this group struggles.
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I know this is a 'doomer' take, but is there truly anything to get excited about for next season other than 20 games of Zion (if we keep him), Missi's growth, and Joel Meyers and Antonio Daniels on the broadcast? At least the latter is free, and I don't have to watch the games to listen to them. – Ryan M.
What are 2-3 things that need to happen for the Pelicans to contend for a playoff spot besides Zion being/staying healthy? – Tony K.
These questions are somewhat related, so I decided to combine them into one. First, any time Meyers and Daniels are on the call, it's worth the price of admission. The Pelicans are lucky to have what I consider a top-five play-by-play/analyst combo on any local broadcast. They're very good at their jobs despite covering such a hectic franchise.
Now that I've got that out of the way, here are three things the Pelicans need to do to get people excited/ get the team back to the playoffs (excluding Zion's health):
• Trey Murphy and Herb Jones have to stay healthy and they both have to advance their games to another level. I understand it's somewhat cheating to throw any health-related points on this list, but Murphy and Jones have become such pivotal figures for this team on the court and among the fanbase. Their growth from rookies into two of the leaders on the team has turned them into beloved figures in New Orleans. If they stay healthy and perform like guys who can be the second- and third-best players on a playoff team, it would galvanize the fanbase and provide a much clearer outlook for the franchise. Williamson, Murphy and Jones have already shown excellent on-court chemistry. They just need to keep building on it.
• Find a point guard to fill Murray's shoes until he's ready to return from his Achilles injury. It can be through the draft by taking Jeremiah Fears or Kasparas Jakučionis. It can be through free agency or a trade. Find someone who can run the offense and bring the most out of Murphy, Jones and Missi. The Murray/Pels pairing wasn't going great before his awful injury. With so much uncertainty surrounding his future, anyone who steps into that role and provides quality minutes will instantly become a fan favorite.
• Use some veteran contracts on the books to build depth via trades. CJ McCollum and Kelly Olynyk are both on expiring contracts. Jordan Hawkins is extension-eligible this summer. Much could change over the next month based on how the draft goes, but it feels unlikely all three of those guys will be back on the team next season. There's also the possibility that New Orleans could use Bruce Brown in a sign-and-trade with a veteran team. Either way, this team needs to start building some depth and open up the books for the future instead of investing in older complementary players. Of course, having a veteran presence on the roster is key. But it feels like a good time to cash out on experienced veterans like McCollum and Olynyk, with so many contending teams desperate to shrink their tax bill in the coming years.
I agree that we are not in a doomed situation. We have a talented roster and improved roster construction after the Ingram trade. Will, assuming we stay at No. 7, do you think the team is best served with the best available point guard, or does it depend on who is available? – Robert S.
Personally, I say the best-case scenario for this team will be landing one of Fears, Tre Johnson or Kon Knueppel. One of those guys will be available at No. 7. Just take the best available of those three guys and it'll make life for Dumars and Green much easier.
I like Knueppel the most out of those three options because the floor on what he can become in the NBA seems so high due to his high-level shooting and steady approach when he's making plays off the dribble.
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Fears will be linked to the Pelicans by many draft experts because of the Murray injury. A few members of the Pelicans organization think highly of Fears. I do think there will be some hesitancy with making Fears the No. 7 pick. The former Oklahoma star had trouble knocking down outside jumpers during his only season in college and it's a common belief among draft experts that Fears needs time to get stronger and be more consistent with his decision-making before he's ready to be a full-time starter. Handing him the keys to an offense right away seems like a bad idea, especially if he can't space the floor while playing off the ball.
I've also heard rumblings that the emergence of Missi last year won't stop New Orleans from taking a serious look at Duke big man Khaman Maluach. Those who believe in Maluach view him as one of the players with the highest ceiling in this draft because of the impact he can make on defense and the continued improvement he's shown as an outside shooter.
I have doubts about using such a high pick on a center when Missi performed so well as a rookie. Maluach also has some holes in his game that may not improve. Waiting for another young center to develop seems counterproductive when Missi has already shown he's one of the better young bigs in the league. However, if they keep looking into Maluach, that should tell you how they feel about Missi's future as a starting center.
Just add some more shooters and figure out where they fit later. It's hard to go wrong with that strategy.
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