The New Orleans Pelicans have dropped two spots in the NBA Power Rankings after a disappointing offseason.
The New Orleans Pelicans are optimistic that they can compete for a spot in the postseason this year, but the rest of the basketball world is going to take a bit of convincing.
The Athletic's Law Murray recently posted his updated NBA Power Rankings, now weeks into free agency with almost all of the big moves settling. In it, the Pelicans dropped two spots to No. 28 in the league due to the disappointment surrounding their offseason.
Like most, Murray is critical of the decision to "run it back" this offseason and not make any moves. Of course, New Orleans wouldn't be able to do change much without rebuilding and they have been trying to avoid that.
The two teams below the Pelicans aren't the pair that most would expect. The Milwaukee Bucks are a popular pick for the bottom two, but they're joined by the Chicago Bulls, rather than the Sacramento Kings.
The Kings are often listed below New Orleans because of an even longer track record of public mistrust. A big difference is that they have actually embraced the rebuild, though, and are expecting to be down towards the bottom.
The Bulls, more like the Pelicans, aren't in a spot where they want to be at the bottom, but they did undergo a coaching change. Adding someone like Normal Powell suggests they want to try to at least be competitive along with being able to draft Caleb Wilson with the No. 4 pick.
No one will argue with the Bucks being at the bottom, which is great news for New Orleans as they own the rights to Milwaukee's pick next year if it does end up being as good as it looks like it will.
The Pelicans don't believe that this is a roster that should be down here towards the bottom of the NBA. If they want to start to see their name higher on these types of lists, though, they'll have to prove it.
When healthy last year, this was a completely different team. Herb Jones is the glue to this roster, and he missed action for stretches at a time. There was only really a quick glimpse of what Dejounte Murray added to the lineup, but the early results were positive.
If they finally put it all together and start to win this season, perhaps they will be taken more seriously by the wider NBA world.
