New Orleans Pelicans: The Pels biggest problem was easy to predict

The New Orleans Pelicans have not gotten off to the start they wanted and everyone from Lonzo Ball to Stan Van Gundy to Eric Bledsoe has been blamed.

The truth is that the Pels’ problems all revolve around one thing and it was easy to predict.

Two months ago I wrote about the Pel’s three biggest needs after the draft and free agency were finished. I named “wing depth,” “shooting” and “a playmaker off the bench” as the Pels’ three biggest needs.

After the first month-plus of the season, I stand by those and would add “a reliable backup big man” to the list.

All of these problems relate to a lack of quality depth on the roster, as the Pels’ bench has been the worst in the NBA to start the season.

The Pelicans’ starters can hang with just about anyone in the NBA but the bench is killing them.

Where does the New Orleans Pelicans’ bench rank?

The Pels’ bench has been the worst in the NBA by nearly any measure. They are dead last in points per game, 29th in field goal percentage, 24th in 3-point shots made, 26th in assists and 29th in blocked shots per game.

The Pelicans’ bench is not scoring and not stopping anyone else from scoring. They haven’t made 3-point shots, largely because the two guys who are supposed to be doing it, J.J. Redick and Nicolo Melli, haven’t been hitting them.

Jaxson Hayes hasn’t provided much shot-blocking, the Pels haven’t found a playmaker and they don’t even have a backup wing.

Only Josh Hart has been reliable off the Pels’ bench. Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been up and down, Melli is unplayable, as is Hayes and rookie Kira Lewis Jr. still hasn’t gotten much of a chance, though that should change.

The lack of bench is hurting the New Orleans Pelicans in a lot of ways.