Could New Orleans Pelicans Actually Have One of the Best Offenses in NBA?

The New Orleans Pelicans are going to be hard to stop on offense during the season.

Apr 2, 2024; Sacramento, California, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum (3) celebrates after scoring a basket during the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. / Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images

When taking a look at the New Orleans Pelicans roster, they have the look of a team that is going to be able to score some points this season.

There are incredibly talented offensive players littering their roster. Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Dejounte Murray have all reached All-Star levels previously. CJ McCollum has scored at least 20 points per game in eight consecutive seasons.

Herbert Jones has developed into a reliable 3-point shooter and Trey Murphy is on the cusp of a breakout himself.

There are a lot of different ways that this team is going to be able to put the ball in the basket. Players who can create offense on their own in isolations, some who will make you pay for doubling off of them from the 3-point line, mid-range merchants and bruising interior play.

How will this all translate on the court? They should have one of the better offensive units in the league.

Over at CBS Sports, Sam Quinn has put together projections for where each team in the NBA will finish in offensive rating. He has the Pelicans coming in at No. 10.

“The next two teams are practically opposites of one another. Like the Suns, this is a split-the-difference ranking. If the Pelicans are healthy they have pathways into the top five and if they aren't, things can get ugly pretty quickly. The upside stands out compared to the downside because the Pelicans don't have a center. The upside of Zion Williamson attacking the basket with four shooters around him is too tantalizing to leave out of the top 10. It doesn't matter that Brandon Ingram and Dejounte Murray are duplicative or that health even beyond Williamson has been scary for the past few years. The NBA's most dangerous scorer at the basket is about to play with the best spacing he's ever had. That's simple and it's deadly,” the NBA expert wrote.

Quinn is certainly right in his assessment. Things are going to go one of two ways; they catch breaks and things fall in their favor, resulting in magnificent production. Or, injuries will occur and derail their success.

Hopefully, it is the former.

The addition of Murray is a big one because he will help get his teammates into positions for them to put the ball in the basket and score some easy hoops. His playmaking will take this unit to another level.

If the increase in 3-point attempts in the preseason carries over to the regular season, they will be in for another jump. They were near the bottom in 3-point attempts in recent seasons, something that will have to change for them to reach their ceiling.

That will clear the runway for Williamson to get to work attacking the basket. We haven’t seen this kind of potential for an offense built around the former No. 1 pick. In the best shape of his life, we could see some awesome offensive production in New Orleans this year.