New Orleans Pelicans Among Best Teams To Watch in NBA League Pass Rankings

Basketball fans are going to want to tune in to New Orleans Pelicans games this season.

Apr 12, 2024; San Francisco, California, USA; New Orleans Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado (15) celebrates his three-point basket against the Golden State Warriors during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. / D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images

If you are an NBA fan looking to take in some action on a night your team isn’t playing, the New Orleans Pelicans should provide you with plenty of entertainment.

Over at Basketball Poetry, Mike Shearer has shared his NBA League Pass Rankings for the 2024-25 regular season. Breaking into the top 10 are the Pelicans and with good reason.

They landed in the No. 9 spot, which seems like a fair ranking, with some room for growth. They have a lot of what a fan of the game who doesn’t follow the team closely can enjoy for a night of basketball viewing.

“The uniforms are always pretty (last year’s Skelican iconography was a highlight, although it seems to be retired this season), and Antonio Daniels is my favorite broadcast color analyst,” Shearer wrote.

After winning 49 games last season, they made a splash this offseason acquiring Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks. He is a great fit for the team and should raise their ceiling and floor.

Willie Green has a very talented group of players to work with this season. But, there are some challenges that he has to overcome for the team to reach their potential.

Figuring things out with Brandon Ingram is imperative. Either trade him or work out an extension; the longer his future remains in limbo the bigger a distraction it will become.

That kind of intrigue should interest fans who won’t see New Orleans on national television very often. There are storylines to follow and the team has a lot of talent on the roster.

Leading the way in that department is All-Star forward Zion Williamson. An easy way to draw in fans is to have a legitimate star to watch and the Pelicans have one in the former No. 1 pick.

But, for as popular of a player he is, his injury track record works against him in these rankings.

“The only reason the Pelicans aren’t higher is the inevitability of Zion’s extended absence and the uncertainty around the Ingram/McCollum stuff — this team could look very different in February. But you can never go wrong with a Pelicans game,” Shearer added.

This is a group that is going to play a fast, hectic and aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball. Things should flow better offensively with Murray running the show and they will be one of the few teams that will be a blast to watch on defense.

Imagine the havoc a group of Murray, Trey Murphy, Herbert Jones, Javonte Green or Ingram and Williamson can do flying around the court. Turnovers are going to be created at an incredible pace, which will result in some highlight plays in the open court.