The New Orleans Pelicans failed to make the post-season once again as they finished with a 31-41 record, good for the 11th seed in the conference.
They have a good amount of talent on the team, but there’s been an issue in terms of translating that into wins. Will they make the playoffs this year?
New Orleans Pelicans 2021-2022 Season Preview
Offseason Changes
Throughout the offseason, the Pelicans made a good amount of moves. They were able to get Jonas Valanciunas in exchange for Steven Adams basically. This helps the team out a lot as he provides good spacing. This move helps Zion Williamson the most.
The Pelicans were also able to bring in Devonte’ Graham. Last season, Graham averaged 14.8 points per game while shooting 37.7% from the field. He’s a solid and young point guard but it’s too soon to say whether if he’ll be able to lead this team to the post-season.
On top of that, they were able to sign Garrett Temple, who’s a nice addition to the bench. In terms of locking in their players, they were able to re-sign Josh Hart to a three-year/$38M deal and Willy Hernangomez to a three-year deal.
Unfortunately, they weren’t able to land someone like Kyle Lowry or Chris Paul. Both of whom are players that could’ve led this team to the post-season. On top of that, they lost their point guard in Lonzo Ball. He was an up-and-coming guard in this league and losing him will prove to be huge as the season progresses.
New Orleans Pelicans – Expectations For This Season
Everyone’s expectations are different, especially for this team. That being said, the expectation for them is to contend for a spot in the play-in tournament. They have two All-Stars on their team in Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson, however, they just don’t know how to win games yet.
It’s one thing to have talent on your team, and it’s another thing to translate that into wins. They just haven’t figured that out yet. Expect them to once again miss the post-season regardless of their contention for a spot in the play-in tournament.
For these past few seasons, they have had plenty of talent on their team, but there wasn’t any consistency. Don’t expect the New Orleans Pelicans in the playoffs, period.
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