Oddsmakers Hint at New Orleans Pelicans Being Just a Mediocre Team Next Season

Oddsmakers recently revealed team total wins for the 2024-25 NBA season and the New Orleans Pelicans are seen as an average team.

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-USA TODAY Sports

The New Orleans Pelicans have shown steady improvement with Wille Green as their head coach. In his first season at the helm, the team won 36 games, a five-game improvement over their one season with Stan Van Gundy as head coach.

Despite being 10 games under .500, the Pelicans battled through the NBA Play-In Tournament and earned the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They gave the Phoenix Suns all they could handle but lost the series in six games.

The 2022-23 season didn’t result in a playoff appearance, but New Orleans did finish with a winning record for the first time since the 2017-18 season, going 42-40. This past season, another improvement was achieved with 49 regular season victories, which is tied for the second most in a single season.

Alas, another first-round exit in the playoffs has led to the roster being revamped this offseason. The Pelicans acquired Dejounte Murray from the Atlanta Hawks to bolster their backcourt and have revamped the center depth chart.

Jonas Valanciunas departed in free agency, while Larry Nance Jr. was part of the Murray trade. Taking their place on the depth chart is veteran Daniel Theis and rookie first-round pick, Yves Missi.

An even bigger change could be on the horizon depending on what happens with Brandon Ingram. It will be interesting to see how Green adjusts the team’s style with several new key rotation players.

Will it result in an increased total of victories for a fourth season? Based on 2024-25 season win totals, oddsmakers certainly don’t believe it will happen.

New Orleans has received a win total of 45.5 from oddsmakers. That puts them right in the middle of the league, as 14 teams currently have a higher listed over/under number.

Seven of those teams are in the Western Conference, which hints that oddsmakers believe the Pelicans are a fringe playoff team. If their totals are spot on, they would have to advance to the 2025 NBA Playoffs via the NBA Play-In Tournament again.

The Western Conference is going to be a hard-fought gauntlet once again. Oddsmakers have placed the over/under for the Los Angeles Lakers, Houston Rockets and Golden State Warriors all within three games of the number set for New Orleans.

There will almost certainly be at least one, if not multiple teams from the Western Conference in the 2024-25 season that finish with a record above the .500 mark that will miss the postseason.