These three areas were needs for the New Orleans Pelicans this offseason, and have yet to be addressed.
The New Orleans Pelicans had limited resources to fix their roster this offseason without completely upending things. So now, they will mostly run back the same team from next year and hope that a new coaching staff can figure out the right recipe.
There are some light changes, to be fair. Bennedict Mathurin offers a ton of offensive potential on the wing and Trendon Watford is an interesting versatile piece. The Pelicans just haven’t been able to fix most of their glaring issues.
Here are a couple of weaknesses that New Orleans has yet to address this offseason:
Three-Point Shooting
The Pelicans actually have a full slate of mouths to feed on offense, but not enough spacing to keep everyone open. Even in adding someone like Mathurin who can drop 20 points at a moments notice, but he’s never been a reliable shooter.
The main area where it becomes an issue is trying to make lineups that have both Zion Williamson and Derik Queen work, because there just isn’t much room for them to operate. It also makes it harder on Trey Murphy when he’s the only major threat they have to worry about.
There isn’t much to suggest that New Orleans will shoot the ball any better this year. They might not be too upset, though, as they have been more focused on the defensive side of the ball. The Orlando Magic, whose coaching staff the Pelicans hired this offseason, had the worst offense in the league a few seasons back.
Interior Defense
The Pelicans got bullied in the paint last season, due to a lack of size across the board. The rookies were getting hunted, and their best option for help off the bench was Kevon Looney. They moved on from him this offseason, but haven’t replaced him.
It would be hard to add another center to their current roster build, so they might need to employ a lot of small-ball.
They’ll be banking on the development of Derik Queen and Yves Missi there. Queen has been hard at work with DeAndre Jordan this offseason, and Missi has been the talk of the World Cup qualifiers.
Adding a Bully
It goes with the last one, but at the top of the offseason, Joe Dumars said that last year’s team wasn’t tough enough. Mathurin and Watford aren’t going to fix that.
This could be where the coaching change makes the biggest difference, if the culture of the building changes the approach the team brings to the court and in turn leads to a more aggressive defense.
