The New Orleans Pelicans are off to a 2-8 start, which is not where this team anticipated being when they set expectations this offseason.
When New Orleans Pelicans’ Executive VP of Basketball David Griffin reset this team’s roster in the offseason, there was a lot made of the potential from the talented young bunch. However talented they are this season, it’s not yet working correctly in the win-loss column.
After pulling what’s been an increasingly common trend, a second-half collapse in last night’s 116-122 home loss to the Houston Rockets last night, the Pelicans wrapped-up their first ten games of the year to the tune of a 2-8 opening run.
Currently, the New Orleans Pelicans are the third-worst team in the NBA, per Tankathon, and it’s hard to see how this thing gets better before Zion Williamson‘s return sometime in December.
While the team is getting a lot out of Brandon Ingram in the interim, they’ve been a disaster on the defensive end and don’t yet look like a team who knows how to win.
Granted, they’ve been met with more injuries than they’ve been able to keep up with, an unfortunate trend that Griffin tried to buck by hiring Aaron Nelson as the team’s VP of Player Care and Performance.
Jrue Holiday missed time with knee pain. Derrick Favors missed a few for the same reason. Lonzo Ball has missed two straight with an adductor injury. Ingram took a shot to the noggin early in the season then missed yesterday’s game with ankle pain. Zion is still recovering from a knee injury. Even Jaxson Hayes exited the second half of the Rockets game with pain.
This team is having a hard time staying healthy through ten games, which means they’re going to have a harder time learning to play together on the back end. Familiarity creates victories in positive situations; look at the San Antonio Spurs dynastic run with Gregg Popovich if you want proof.
To summarize, the New Orleans Pelicans aren’t off to the start fans really wanted, even though this team was never going to be an early finals contender.