The Good News: The Changes the New Orleans Pelicans Need Are Clear

The New Orleans Pelicans played no defense against the Sacramento Kings.

The New Orleans Pelicans wanted to play meaningful games this season and it is happening.

But they won’t have meaning much longer after the Pels lost 140-125 in a game where they couldn’t stop anyone.

Bogdan Bogdanovic went off for 35 points, De’Aaron Fox added 30, as the Kings got out to a hot start and never looked back.

I’m no expert but I think letting up 49 points in a quarter is bad, right?

The Pelicans’ offense was clicking for most of the game, they had 31 assists and shot 41.2% from long-range and 57.3% overall.

The problem was not the offense.

The Pelicans couldn’t stop anyone. The Kings had 58 points in the paint to go along with 16 three-pointers, so the defense was bad everywhere.

Jrue Holiday was particularly disappointing, getting torched by Bogdanovic back-door cuts all game and generally doing nothing to even slow him down.

But Holiday wasn’t the only one, which brings me to my point.

The New Orleans Pelicans need size and defense in the offseason.

One thing has been made clear in the bubble if it wasn’t already: the Pelicans need defenders.

They don’t have a single forward or big who is a plus-defender, and it shows, as teams are fearless when they get into the paint against the Pelicans.

Derrick Favors looks washed. Nicolo Melli couldn’t guard me. Jaxson Hayes is a mess on defense. Ingram is getting better but is still too weak. And that’s pretty much it for Pelicans’ bigs and wings not named Zion.

Zion Williamson was unstoppable today but it didn’t matter because the Pelicans couldn’t get any stops of their own. Bogdanovic is a nice player but you can’t let him get into the lane with impunity time and time again.

The Pelicans’ bigs have exactly ONE block in the four bubble games so far and have done little to alter or affect shots.

It obviously wasn’t just the lack of wing and interior defense today, as the Kings’ guards got into the lane time and time again, which is on the guards.

But even when the guards play good defense and force the other team into the help, it doesn’t usually matter because that “help” is no help at all.

The Pels need to bring in a backup wing who can play defense and has some size. They need a forward to compete with Melli or completely supplant him at power forward.

It’s time to move on from Favors. Even someone like Nerlens Noel would have made all of the difference at the rim in this one. Noel had more blocks in one quarter than the Pels’ bigs have had in four games.

Yes, Holiday and Lonzo didn’t play well, but they are overall good defenders who would be even better if they played with a forward or center who could defend their position.

The bad news is the Pelicans lost a game they should have probably won. The good news is that they should know how to fix it moving forward.

Player grades tomorrow.