New Orleans Pelicans Are Seen as a Fake NBA Title Contender

Can the New Orleans Pelicans compete for an NBA Title this coming season?

Apr 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram (14) dribbles against Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort (5) during the second half of game four of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into the 2024-25 season, there is a lot of speculation about how good the New Orleans Pelicans can be after a busy offseason. 

Last year, the Pelicans were able to advance in the play-in games and won the right to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. Even though New Orleans was battling some injuries, they didn’t appear to be on the same level as the Thunder. 

This offseason, the Pelicans made a big splash, as they were able to acquire Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks. Murray brings another very good player to New Orleans, as he will be paired with Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. 

There was a lot of speculation about what the Pelicans were going to do in the offseason with Ingram, but for now, he’s on the team. This is a very talented and fairly young trio in the league and many are wondering how good they can be. 

Recently, Dan Favale of Bleacher Report spoke about five teams who are fake contenders. Unfortunately for the Pelicans, they made the list. 

 “Worrying about the dynamic between Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Dejounte Murray is fair. They have the talent to figure it out. Murray, specifically, has improved his shooting enough to simplify things, and he should allow for more traditional off-ball usage from Zion.”

“Meanwhile, this team is built to do some nasty things on defense, from the outside in, with Murray, Jose Alvarado, Herb Jones and Trey Murphy all in the fold. The center position is their biggest concern—and their potential undoing.”

While Murray, Ingram, and Williamson are a talented trio, they don’t appear to be the best fit on paper if we look at their careers so far. Spacing and playing off the ball are going to be an issue for the Pelicans to figure out early on, as staggering minutes between Ingram and Murray make a lot of sense. 

In addition to the question marks about their fit together, there is a glaring issue at the center position. Daniel Theis is going to be the starter and get a majority of the minutes at the position, but he hasn’t shown that he is capable of being a 30-minute a game player. 

Using Williamson at the center position and playing small could be a good option for the Pelicans depending on the matchup next season. With a lot of good defenders on the team, the Pelicans might have what it takes to play very small lineups and try to exploit teams on the offensive end. 

While a lot can change before the playoffs, the Pelicans don’t appear to be a title contender as of now. However, we will have to wait to see what the roster looks like closer to playoff time and how Murray fits with Williamson and Ingram before we totally write them off.