Are the New Orleans Pelicans a Serious Contender in the West?

Injuries and poor play late ruined another great opportunity for the New Orleans Pelicans to make a run. Will they be healthy enough in April to contend this time around?

New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green gives direction to his players on a time out against the Oklahoma City Thunder during game four of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

2024 started to shape up as the year the New Orleans Pelicans would make a deep playoff run. With superstar forward Zion Williamson playing the most games he had in his career and Brandon Ingram playing with more consistency, it looked like the Pelicans had it figured out in March and April.

That is until the best performance of Williamson's career was tainted by what would become a season-ending injury.

After losing your top player to injury and having your back against the wall at home in the final game of the Play-In Tournament, New Orleans got a strong performance by Ingram to advance them into the eighth seed and battle the best in the west, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

After a very quick four-game sweep, the Pelicans were looking for answers to get them back into the conversation as a contender in the Western Conference, a league they led in December.

Many people argued that New Orleans needed more of a true point guard than CJ McCollum, who's age is rising. However, the 11-year vet had a really strong season with 20 points a game while shooting 43% from behind the arc.

On June 28, the Pelicans acquired All-Star guard DeJounte Murray in a deal with the Atlanta Hawks that sent Larry Nance Jr, Dyson Daniels, E.J. Liddel, and two first-rounders to Atlanta for the point guard. Adding Murray to the mix with Williamson, Ingram, McCollum, and others makes for a really strong offensive group.

The biggest question for fans: can they stay healthy enough to be a major contender in the West?

New Orleans has dealt with more than their fair share of injuries with Williamson and Ingram both missing extended time within the last two seasons along with minor setbacks to McCollum, Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, and Jose Alvarado. Now with the addition of Murray, another high caliber player that has a injury history that includes hamstring and ankle issues.

"I want to see if he turns the clock back to that San Antonio Dejounte Murray.. For those that don't know him except as a player, they're getting a better dude.. He is a stand-up salt of the earth human being"

-- @adaniels33 names Dejounte Murray on his top 5 players to watch pic.twitter.com/FMxy016PHB

— Pelicans Film Room (@PelsFilmRoom) August 14, 2024

As mentioned in the above clip from SiriusXM's Give and Go on NBA Radio featuring Pelicans color commentator Antonio Daniels, if Murray can revert back to his earlier days with the San Antonio Spurs, there's no question that the Pelicans will be the winners of that summer trade. However, if the stars and supporting cast around him aren't healthy enough to stay on the floor, Murray's talent won't be enough to carry New Orleans deep into the postseason.

With the addition of Murray and former Washington Wizards center Daniel Theis, the Pelicans have the opportunity to be a top contender in the West, but only if the key pieces of the puzzle can stay in place long enough to get there.