Pelica Debrief
Fansided

10 takeaways halfway through the New Orleans Pelicans season

By Willie Lutz

NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 16: Josh Gray #5 and Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans hi-five after a game against the Utah Jazz on January 16, 2020 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - JANUARY 16: Josh Gray #5 and Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans hi-five after a game against the Utah Jazz on January 16, 2020 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images) /
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New Orleans Pelicans
NEW ORLEANS, LA – JANUARY 16: Josh Gray #5 and Brandon Ingram #14 of the New Orleans Pelicans hi-five after a game against the Utah Jazz on January 16, 2020 at the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Layne Murdoch Jr./NBAE via Getty Images) /

After a start threatened this team’s ability to hold onto its veterans, the New Orleans Pelicans are set for one of the most thrilling second halves in the NBA.

The New Orleans Pelicans couldn’t have started the season in a much more discouraging fashion, but things have certainly swung since their mid-December turnaround.

While early returns presented a team on cruise control straight for another trip to the draft lottery and on a path to trading off a lot of their key veteran talents, the team is currently looking a whole lot friskier, more like the team many expected to be a pest in the Western Conference Playoffs.

Seemingly, the team shouldn’t be interested in subtracting the likes of Jrue Holiday, J.J. Redick, or E’Twaun Moore, as it’s been suggested by some sources, the team should be more interested in adding another player of similar tenure.

Standing 16-27 at this point in the season, the New Orleans Pelicans are sitting in twelfth place in the West, though they’re four games out of the eighth seed, owned by the Memphis Grizzlies (who the Pelicans play this afternoon).

It’s not like the team is just knocking off easy opponents either; they keep finding ways to compete with and beat teams that seem like locks for the West playoffs, even when they’re not at full strength.

Certainly, there were a lot of negative feelings at the beginning of a season that had a lot of promise, but now it seems like the fans, players, and organization as a whole are starting to really buy into this New Orleans Pelicans team.

The most-anticipated event of the season has yet to happen (more on that later), but a lot of the pieces are starting to fall into place for the Pelicans.

While it’s still a full half-season until playoff time, the New Orleans Pelicans are showing the league that they’re the real deal and the return of some star players could make them dangerous come April.

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