Pelicans' Willie Green Has Cryptic Answer When Asked About Starting Lineup

Who is going to be in the starting five for the New Orleans Pelicans on opening night?

Apr 29, 2024; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green looks on against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the first half of game four of the first round for the 2024 NBA playoffs at Smoothie King Center. / Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

The 2024-25 NBA regular season is upon us and we still don’t know who is going to be playing when for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Their starting lineup on Opening Night against the Chicago Bulls is going to be one that we haven’t seen yet this year. It is safe to presume that Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, who didn’t share the court for a single second in the preseason, will both be in the starting five.

Who will be joining them has been a topic of debate.

Dejounte Murray wasn’t acquired from the Atlanta Hawks to come off the bench; he will be the starting point guard. Herbert Jones, who has been starting essentially his entire NBA career, should have one of those spots as well.

Will veteran CJ McCollum remain in the starting five, or will he shift to the second unit so that head coach Willie Green can deploy a more traditional lineup with Daniel Theis as the center?

In the preseason, Murray, McCollum, Jones and Theis started all three games; Ingram and Williamson swapped spots in the other. When you add in the injury to Trey Murphy, who will be re-evaluated on Wednesday because of a hamstring issue, it certainly wasn’t an ideal regular season ramp-up.

“Ideally, yes,” Green said, via Christian Clark of NOLA.com. “We would have liked to see that lineup. We didn’t get a chance to. This week, next week, we will be working on some lineups we are going to see that first game. I don’t know yet. But we are getting closer and closer.”

So, who will it be that has their name announced as a starter against the Bulls?

That information isn’t something Green is ready to share. He has an idea of the direction he will be going in but is keeping it to himself.

“I have one in my head,” Green said. “It’s going to stay there right now.”

There was a lot of talk throughout the offseason that the Pelicans were going to lean into their strengths, which means small-ball lineups. It has been something Green hasn’t done much of in his first three seasons at the helm, but he has to make do with what he has.

This could be something that changes throughout the season depending on matchups. Don’t forget that Murphy will be playing a prominent role once he returns from the injured list as well.

There are going to be players disappointed with the role that they have. It will be integral for Green to navigate that so team chemistry and morale aren’t negatively impacted.