These three groups/units have benefited the least from the New Orleans Pelicans' offseason decision-making.
The New Orleans Pelicans offseason has been dogged by many so far, but some would also just call it incomplete. There haven't been any substantial moves made for immediate improvement, but that doesn't mean they can't still make one.
The Pelicans have tried to make a few moves, but they just haven't been able to pull one off yet. With just DeAndrew Jordan and a couple of tryouts, there aren't any big takeaways to be made with certainty yet. If the season comes and that is still the case, then it is time to worry.
After a couple of weeks of free agency, the winners in New Orleans have already been explored. Now it's time to take some time to consider who the biggest losers have been, even with the limited moves:
Teams That Want to Trade For Pelicans Players
Deals take two parties to happen. The Pelicans have been told no on some deals, but they've told people no far more often. New Orleans was considered to be on the losing end of that Derik Queen deal, and the Jordan Poole acquisition was a flop.
This offseason, they seem to be sticking to their guns more in negotiations and aren't wavering from their prices. They could have gone into a complete rebuild if they wanted to; they just didn't want to.
Offense/Analytics Fans
One of the main complaints of the Pelicans last year was sloppy and boring offense. James Borrego tried a couple of fun things and there were players who were individually entertaining at times, but the offense overall was poor. The bigger problem is that the defense was even worse, and has become the priority of the franchise to fix.
The front office gutted their analytics department and hired a defensive-focused coaching staff that has its eyes set on one side of the ball right now. This probably won't be a more entertaining team to watch for modern fans, as they will be ok with grinding out victories.
Jamahl Mosley and His Staff
With no real moves being made so far, its hard to put any real focus on individual players, but that could also be scary for this new coaching staff. While this is a team that should be much better than they have been on paper, it's still a core that has won under 30 games in each of the last two seasons. Is coaching and development going to be enough to turn this into a winning roster? They could at least use some help in filling in some holes like defensive rebounding and shooting before the year begins.
