New Orleans Pelicans Plan to Shoot More 3s Takes Shape in First Preseason Game

The New Orleans Pelicans wanted to shoot more threes this season, and in the first game of the preseason, they did just that.

Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images

The preseason is officially underway, with the New Orleans Pelicans playing their first game, earning a win over the Orlando Magic 106-104.

One of the major keys the Pelicans brass has emphasized this offseason is taking more shots from beyond the arc, something that will prove beneficial with the team seemingly gearing up for a small-ball starting five.

With the box score showing a tally of 40 three-point attempts for New Orleans, the point of emphasis proved to be more than just hollow coach-speak.

Last season, the Pelicans made 32.4 three-point attempts per game on 87.4 total shots; their 40 attempts from deep yesterday came on 86 total shots, a (roughly) 25% increase.

Yes, it was just one game and a preseason one at that, but with how much that emphasis has been preached, this could be what we see from the team going forward.

The kicker?

Brandon Ingram did not play and Trey Murphy III is injured.

Those two are sure to lead the team in three-point attempts in the regular season.

Instead, it was CJ McCollum (6 attempts) and Jordan Hawkins (5) who led the team in attempts from beyond the arc, with the two connecting on five of their 11 attempts for a 45 percent success rate.

McCollum is sure to take his fair share of three-point attempts in the coming year, especially after a career-high 42.9 success rate in the 2023-24 season, and with Dejounte Murray on the roster as the key facilitator (Murray had six assists in 17:28, an 11 assist pace over 32 minutes).

Once Murphy returns to the floor, it is highly likely that he joins the starting five, putting the five best players on the court at tip-off, pushing McCollum to a sixth-man role where he will have even more opportunities for three-point attempts.

Daniel Theis even got in on the three-point action, hitting his only attempt of the day, coming from 26 feet with 9:02 on the clock in the third quarter.

The success rate in yesterday's game was much lower than the team would like, successfully hitting on only 30 percent of the 40 attempts, but it did not cost New Orleans this time.

Another key aspect of the three-point emphasis was Zion Williamson taking more shots from deep.

The team seemingly told Zion all offseason that they wanted him to shoot more threes this year, in hopes of keeping him on the floor for another 70+ games by having the big man take less contact at the rim.

He missed on his only three-point attempt in yesterday's game.

Again, it is just one game, and a preseason one at that.

But it could have still shown us what we can expect from the Pelicans this year.