New Orleans Pelicans: It’s time to shut Eric Bledsoe down for the season

With last night’s loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, the New Orleans Pelicans are on the verge of being eliminated from the play-in games.

The Pels would now have to win all three of their remaining games with the Spurs losing all four of theirs for them to overtake San Antonio for the 10th and final spot.

It is still possible, but with just three games left, the Pelicans need to focus on the future and that starts by shutting down Eric Bledsoe.

Bledsoe has been up and down all season and the Pelicans currently have nothing to gain by keeping him in there, but can take some positives from putting him on the bench.

New Orleans Pelicans: It’s time to see the backcourt of the future

The Pelicans have a number of scenarios when it comes to their backcourt next season.

They will obviously have a tough call to make on Lonzo Ball, who has been fantastic at times but has been wildly inconsistent and may not be worth what he can get paid on the open market.

If the Pelicans do decide to keep Lonzo, then that almost certainly means they will try to trade Bledsoe, as they can’t afford to pay nearly $40 million for a backcourt that has not been very good together this season.

It’s time to see how different combinations of guards might look in the future by benching Bledsoe, starting Nickeil Alexander-Walker with Lonzo Ball and bringing Kira Lewis Jr. in as the first guard off the bench.

This will not only give Lonzo and NAW a chance to start building some chemistry but will give the Pels an idea of how they might work together and whether it is a match.

I would also love to see Kira play with NAW to see how they might fit as a backcourt in case the Pelicans do not end up re-signing Lonzo Ball.

The New Orleans Pelicans can squeeze some positives out of these last three games even if they don’t make the play-in, but it starts with unleashing the backcourt of the future.