New Orleans Pelicans Have One Player Who Could Surprise People This Season

One off-the-radar player on the New Orleans Pelicans could make a big impact this season.

Oct 7, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans center Daniel Theis (10) reacts against the Orlando Magic at Smoothie King Center. / Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The biggest storyline involving the New Orleans Pelicans heading into the 2024-25 season is what they are going to do at the center position.

Some people have wondered whether Zion Williamson would move over to the 5-spot, providing Willie Green with an extremely athletic, disruptive unit surrounded by Dejounte Murray, Trey Murphy (when he is healthy), Herbert Jones and Brandon Ingram.

Expecting Williamson to handle that kind of wear-and-tear for an entire season would be risky. To avoid some of it, it has been revealed that the Pelicans are preparing to have Jones operate as their center.

That is as shocking as it sounds. Jones is one of the best defensive players in the NBA, but he makes his impact on the perimeter. Sticking him on the interior against big men would seemingly hurt more than help.

While Green has said that no decisions about the starting lineup have been made and everything is under consideration, a more traditional lineup could emerge. If the first preseason game is any indication of what could be coming, Daniel Theis could find himself in the starting five.

It would be quite a year for the veteran, who began the 2023-24 campaign buried on the Indiana Pacers bench before receiving some spot minutes for the LA Clippers. Now, he could be a starter for New Orleans, making him an off-the-radar player to keep an eye on in the opinion of John Hollinger of The Athletic.

“Realistically, this is a 15-minutes-a-night assignment, but on a team with limited floor spacing in the starting group, Theis will have to show he can knock down an occasional 3 (37.1 percent last year, 33.1 percent career). The 32-year-old is no giant himself at 6-8 but needs to provide some rim protection for a team heavy on perimeter stoppers and light on frontcourt tonnage, especially in the non-Williamson minutes.”

When the Pelicans are healthy, Theis likely won’t be finishing games. But, someone needs to soak up minutes throughout the marathon regular season at the center spot and he could be the likeliest recipient.

Rookie Yves Missi has a skill set that could also provide the team with production as a rim protector and above-the-rim player on offense. But he is raw and lacking a perimeter game, which could clog the floor too much depending on the lineup combinations.

This is far from an ideal situation for a team hoping to make the playoffs, but Green has to make do with what he has available to him. That could ultimately mean starting Theis in a limited role.