The New Orleans Pelicans are rising in power rankings thanks to the return of Herb Jones smoothing their gameplan out.
The New Orleans Pelicans sit at 15-41 as the All-Star Break nears its end, which is the third-worst record in the NBA. They are not, however, playing like the third-worst team in basketball right now.
Though there has not been a real game played since last Thursday, the NBA still released an updated power ranking of the league's teams. The Pelicans did not move, which is a positive sign, because they are up to No. 24.
The Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards and Sacramento Kings are the squads currently ranked below New Orleans. While certainly debatable, the Pelicans being above these teams right now feels right.
Ever since New Orleans got a little bit healthier, mostly just Herb Jones returning, they feel like a real NBA team again. It's not perfect, but it's much better. They have a 10-game sample size with this rotation, and they are 5-5.
They've beaten impressive teams like the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves, but have also lost to the Milwaukee Bucks and Charlotte Hornets in that time.
Over the last 10 games, the Pelicans are closer to the middle of the league with a 113.3 NET rating. That puts them at No. 13. Both the offense and the defense have been around the middle of the league, with the offense slightly better.
The return of Jones improving the defense is obvious. His impact on the offensive side is underrated, mostly because he is volatile in terms of personal production. The team's offense improves with him on the court, though.
Jones is a solid playmaker for others, with a similar assist-to-usage rate to Kon Knueppel and DeMar DeRozan. He shoots enough to make teams adjust to him, and creates transition offense.
Jones just makes the team better.
While it likely doesn't mean a miracle run after the break to steal the No. 10 seed from the Los Angeles Clippers, they must keep winning as many games as possible.
Both because they need to build a winning culture, but winning games and making that first round pick going to the Atlanta Hawks worse will go a long way to escaping the dread of that trade.
Before the next power rankings update, the Pelicans will have a weekend back-to-back against the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday and the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday. The Bucks are ranked No. 21, so that could be a chance for New Orleans to jump up a few more spots.