New Orleans Pelicans Season In-Review: Good, But Just Not Good Enough

An early first-round exit in disappointing fashion will bring a summer of uncertainty around the direction of this team.

Mar 6, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; New Orleans Pelicans small forward Brandon Ingram (14) / Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports

New Orleans, LA - The New Orleans Pelicans season ended on Monday after a first-round sweep by the Oklahoma City Thunder. Under this front office, coaching staff, and core players, New Orleans has yet to make it past the opening round of the playoffs, with two first-round exits sandwiched around a Play-In Tournament loss last season. Despite winning the second-most games in franchise history this year, the Pelicans aren't quite there to be true contenders in the NBA.

Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin spoke with the media on Tuesday for the team's exit interviews and echoed a need to get better. "I think in the past we’ve always erred on the side of continuity and our takeaway has always been 'Let’s see this group healthy," Griffin told reporters.

"I think we’ve seen this group enough. We had a really good opportunity to see Zion play a career-high in games. We saw it for segments of time well enough to understand that we’ve got a lot of work to do.” Part of the good this season was the health of the Pelicans for the majority of the regular season.

New Orleans star forward Zion Williamson played a career-high 70 games this year after playing in just 29 the last two seasons combined. Williamson posted career-highs in assists (5.0), steals (1.1), and blocks (0.7). His co-star Brandon Ingram played the most games (64) since his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers, while veteran guard CJ McCollum transformed his game tremendously from the perimeter. He had a career-high 557 attempts from three while also shooting a career-high 42.9% from distance.

Apr 7, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) blocks the / Allan Henry-USA TODAY Sports

The Pelicans captured the most road wins in the NBA (28), a franchise record, and have increased their win total from 36 in Coach Willie Green's rookie year, to 42 last season and 49 this year. Last season, 49 wins would have been good enough for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. New Orleans had to win a do-or-die Play-In game just to grab the No. 8 seed this year. David Griffin acknowledged that while this was a 'historically great' conference, there needs to be urgency to keep pace in the crowded West.

"Because it is a historically good Western Conference, there are teams that didn’t make the playoffs that are going to get radically better this offseason." Griffin acknowledged. "We need to do the same. I think you will see a real sense of urgency from all of us to do that.”

New Orleans has a few decisions to make regarding roster construction this offseason. Starting center Jonas Valanciunas is an unrestricted free agent this summer. Valanicunas played all 82 games this season, but he averaged the second-lowest minutes of his career. Coach Willie Green often went small, which meant Jonas would be benched to start the second half in a handful of games. In Game 3 of their playoff series against the Thunder, Valanciunas did not play a single minute in the second half. The team figures to target an athletic big, who can complement Zion better and be a better rim protector. 

Apr 24, 2024; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas (17) / Alonzo Adams-USA TODAY Sports

There is also the looming decision regarding Ingram's contract extension. B.I. has one year left on his current deal and is eligible for a 4-year, $208 million extension. For a team that has never paid into the luxury tax, the Pelicans have $106 million tied up in contracts to Ingram, Williamson, and McCollum next season. Would New Orleans extend Ingram after he came off a playoff series averaging 14 points on 35% shooting? The Pelicans could look for a trade partner to bring in another star that would balance what Zion wants to do offensively. 

The Pelicans went 21-19 at home, the worst home record for any team that made the playoffs this season. Counting the Play-In and Playoffs games, New Orleans went 2-9 in their last 11 home games. They were also one of the worst clutch teams in the league, ranking No. 27 in clutch minutes this season. All those add up to an early summer filled with an offseason of questions, with not many answers right now. Griffin probably summed it up best when he offered what's on the table to explore with this team. "Knowing now, because we have seen the group enough, I think we will be able to address some of that. But certainly, we have to be open to a lot of different things.”