Analysts Name New Orleans Pelicans Their 'Biggest 2024-2025 NBA Concern'

The NBA season is right around the corner, and the Pelicans have questions that need to be answered soon.

Mar 8, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram (14) warms up before the game against the Philadelphia 76ers at Wells Fargo Center. / Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The NBA offseason is drawing to a close, with the New Orleans Pelicans set to open training in less than two weeks. There is optimism that this season will build upon last year's success, as the Pelicans won 49 games and made the playoffs for the second time in three years. Still, the team has some question marks surrounding them that will linger into the season.

NBA analysts Bill Simmons and Zach Lowe recently sat down to preview the new NBA year, and they both chose the Pelicans as the team with the 'Biggest Concern' heading into the season.

"It's just a strange team, and now they have this thing hovering over them (Ingram contract situation). He (Ingram) skipped the informal minicamp....is he going to mope, and is he going to be a problem?" Lowe said on the podcast.

Ingram and his representatives sought the maximum extension this offseason, worth between $45 and $50 million annually. New Orleans was unwilling to meet his demands, and now the former All-Star forward heads into the season in the last year of his contract. Many expect Ingram to be traded during the year, as the market for the former No. 2 overall pick was not strong in the summer.

Any deals New Orleans makes involving Ingram need to include some frontcourt support. The Pelicans traded away Jonas Valanciunas, Larry Nance, Jr., and Cody Zeller this summer in various trades, leaving the team thin at center ahead of the 2024-2025 NBA season. That caused serious concern for Simmons regarding the perception this Pelicans team has.

"They (Pelicans) have a lot going on, and they have no center. (Daniel) Theis and Zion are going to be their centers?" Simmons inquired. "What are they going to do when they play Embiid? There are going to be ten centers in this league they will have to have some kind of answer to."

Theis, mentioned above, was a summer pickup for New Orleans on a one-year deal. The veteran center is an undersized 6-foot-9 big who will likely get to start many games this season. New Orleans drafted former Baylor center Yves Missi with their first-round draft pick this year, but the Cameroonian native is a raw talent who will take some time to progress. The Pelicans will have to play small-ball lineups most of the year, including Zion Williamson playing center at times.

New Orleans has much to work through this season to make the playoffs. Simmons and Lowe think the Pelicans are a fringe playoff team, with Simmons doubling down that the team won't make the postseason this year. The Western Conference will again be brutal, but the Pelicans have the talent to compete. They must show it on a nightly basis this year.