New Orleans Pelicans: Projecting the Next 5 Years in the Southwest

The New Orleans Pelicans can be the best in the Southwest

New Orleans Pelicans

Currently sitting at 10th place in the Western Conference with a 28-36 record, the Pelicans’ inclusion in the NBA’s plan could rest solely with the number one pick from the 2019 draft, Zion Williamson. While I’m certainly not mad the Pelicans will get to play more games this season, I would have understood if the NBA chose the 16 teams currently in playoff spots for the re-start..

The average age of the Pelicans is 25.3 years old, good for the 13th youngest roster across the league. To add to that, the best player by Win Shares on this team is only 22 years old. Brandon Ingram leads a balanced effort with 4.9 Win Shares, while Jrue Holiday and Favors are next at 4.0 and 3.8 respectively.

And while Zion only played in 19 games this season he still is in the top ten for Win Shares on the team.

Most of this team is signed at least through next season and only the only major contributor who could leave this offseason is Derrick Favors. While there could be some roster turnover after the 2020-21 season, the core of Zion, Ingram and Lonzo will all still be in place with Ingram and Lonzo getting extensions after each of the coming seasons.

The lure of that young core should entice some veteran free agents to take a discount to come to New Orleans for a chance to compete, similar to how the Pelicans got Redick this past offseason.

The team also has a ton of draft capital after trading away Anthony Davis, those draft picks along with New Orleans’ own likely won’t be very high selections in the coming drafts but they could be packaged to move up in the draft or used to acquire an unhappy star.

There is every reason to believe that the New Orleans Pelicans will be contenders for years to come. They have multiple All-Star talents whose timelines fit well together and should be able to consistently inject youth and talent into the roster with their chest of draft assets.

Because each team in this division has a pathway to at least make the playoffs over the next five years, while adding talent to their mostly young rosters, all five of them will be very tough to beat over that time. The winner of this division will likely place in the top end of the conference and have a legitimate shot to win a ring.

The Southwest division could be the NBA’s toughest as soon as next year and may see a champion or two in the next five seasons.