New Orleans Pelicans: The Best All-Time Franchise Roster

Basketball was played in the Big Easy long before the New Orleans Pelicans, so we put together an All-Time roster for the city.

The New Orleans Pelicans don’t have a long history after changing names twice, but they have had some great players from the Jazz, Hornets and Pelicans.

But what is the best roster that New Orleans could put out if the team needed to win one game?

To find out I went back and examined the rosters for each season of NBA basketball played in New Orleans (yes, the Pistol Pete Jazz are included). Like any All-Time roster we’re assuming each of these players will be in their prime when called to action, but I’m only looking at how they played in a New Orleans uniform.

That means we are to act like the 2011 NBA Finals never happened, so Tyson Chandler did not win a ring (nor is he two-time California Mr. Basketball). Only stats and awards earned while with New Orleans count.

The pool of players available to choose for this team come from the rosters of the New Orleans Jazz (1974-1979), New Orleans Hornets (2002-2013) and New Orleans Pelicans (2013-2020).

The hardest part was finding enough quality players who played for more than a few seasons in New Orleans, as there’s only been NBA basketball in the city for a combined 23 years.

There are several players from the current New Orleans Pelicans that are certain to be on this All-Time roster one day but haven’t yet put in the time to knock off guys that played more time with the team.

The guys I had to leave off the list could make a formidable team of their own, which is why they deserve their own list.

So, let’s start with the honorable mentions.