New Orleans Pelicans Potential Starting Five Ranked Low by NBA Expert

The New Orleans Pelicans' potential starting five on opening night has been ranked in the bottom half of the NBA.

Dec 17, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green draws up a play in the huddle against the Phoenix Suns at Footprint Center. / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Media Day and training camp for the New Orleans Pelicans will have a lot of eyes on it.

People will want to see if the summer preview of Zion Williamson’s body transformation has continued. He has spoken about the steps he took to ensure that he is as healthy as possible and in the best shape of his life.

The Pelicans also made a big trade this offseason, acquiring guard Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks to solve a lot of their backcourt woes. He is the unquestioned initiator of the offense and lead ball-handler.

Alas, his acquisition also brings some questions along with it. Namely, who is going to be in the starting lineup?

New Orleans’ frontcourt depth from last season is gone. Jonas Valanciunas departed in free agency, landing with the Washington Wizards, and Larry Nance Jr. was included in the Murray blockbuster.

Right now, the Pelicans don’t have a starting-caliber center on the roster. That could lead to head coach Willie Green going extremely small in his starting five, which is what Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report is expecting.

He shared his power rankings for each team’s projected starting five on the opening night of the 2024-25 season. For New Orleans, Murray, CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Trey Murphy and Williamson were his grouping.

That lineup was ranked No. 17 in Bailey's power rankings. For the defensive-minded Green, it is hard to imagine this would be the starting lineup he would go with.

The team is dangerously undersized and 3-point shooting consistency could become an issue. Murray has made strides in long-range shooting, but Ingram prefers operating in the mid-range and Williamson attempts 0.5 per game in his career.

Despite some shooting concerns, this is a grouping that would drive opponents crazy coming up with defensive game plans. Having three different players capable of initiating offense is tough to prepare for.

Having a center that can do as much as Williamson has its perks. But, this group would have to be incredibly efficient on offense to make up for the lack of defense.

There would be an incredible amount of pressure on Murray and Murphy to handle basically all of the heavy lifting on defense. Not having Herbert Jones in the lineup would create a massive void to overcome on that end of the court.

Inserting him into McCollum’s spot would lower the offensive ceiling, but greatly improve the defensive outlook. Changing his role after starting all but nine games as a professional feels unlikely.

If anything, this exercise by Bailey emphasizes even more the need for the Pelicans to find a taker for Ingram on the trade market and do whatever they can to bring back a big man who can handle the starting center spot.