Houston Rockets Take Pressure Off New Orleans Pelicans Playoff Expectations

The Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder swapped Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook, solidifying the Rockets position as a Western Conference contender. The trade also eased the playoff expectation pressure surrounding the New Orleans Pelicans.

David Griffin has rebuilt the New Orleans Pelicans in less than a summer. His efforts have been so successful that Zion Williamson will have playoff expectations in his rookie season. Now that the Houston Rockets have traded for Oklahoma City Thunder legend Russell Westbrook, the Pelicans path to the playoffs will be all the more difficult.

The recent moves trades for stars by Western Conference teams should alleviate the pressures of making the playoffs next season. In turn, that should relieve some of the massive expectations being placed on Zion Williamson.

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Make no doubt, the New Orleans Pelicans are plenty capable of earning a playoff appearance. Jrue Holiday will be given ‘permission to dominate’ as he leads the team next season. Griffin has brought in plenty of All-Star caliber talent.

However, other western conference teams have made big moves as well. Oklahoma City and Houston were both teams led by a singular star. Looking at last season’s top eight teams, those two were always the most likely to miss the playoffs.

The Denver Nuggets, Portland Trailblazers, and Utah Jazz retained their playoff cores. The Los Angeles Clippers added the reigning NBA Finals MVP and Paul George. The other Los Angeles team has Lebron James and added Anthony Davis to lead a renewed playoff charge.

The San Antonio Spurs still have Gregg Popovich and will have Dejounte Murray and Lonnie Walker for a full season. The Golden State Warriors still have Steph Curry. Houston was able to oust Chris Paul for a younger star in Russell Westbrook. Now,  only the Oklahoma City Thunder is expected to drop out of contention.

Expecting to finish in the top four of the standings is borderline unrealistic. The New Orleans Pelicans may have top-four talent but still needs time to develop team chemistry. The young veterans and rookies will have their growing pains as individuals. Lonzo Ball and Brandon Ingram are both still yet to be fully cleared to play.

The race for the bottom four spots will be as contentious as ever. The New Orleans Pelicans’ very successful summer was creating an overwhelming amount of positive momentum. Failing to meet wildly optimistic expectations would stifle the team’s long term momentum. The Houston Rockets trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder stacks the short term deck against the Pelicans.

Now that the playoff raced is stacked even more towards the top end, maybe the expectations being placed on the New Orleans Pelicans can become as balanced as the roster.