The New Orleans Pelicans clearly needed some changes after missing the playoffs yet again.
They finished 11th in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, but should have been higher, as they blew a ton of double-digit leads and games that they should have won.
Part of the reason was the the team was terrible in clutch time and relied too much on Zion Williamson barreling through four defenders to get shots.
They shot the ball poorly overall, but especially from the 3-point and free-throw lines, which also made it difficult to close out games. The Pelicans weren’t a very smart team overall, turned the ball over way too much and often made huge blunders on defense.
GM Trajan Langdon took notice and identified the key areas the Pels were looking for in the draft and offseason additions:
"“We talked about that for a long time. The one thing we wanted to do this summer was bring in defensive-slanted guys, high-basketball IQ guys and shooting.”"
So far he has lived up to his word.
New Orleans Pelicans: Offseason additions show culture change
The Pelicans wanted to bring in defense, shooting and high basketball I.Q. to a team that was lacking in all three areas.
They drafted Trey Murphy III, who was an excellent 3-point shooter in college, hitting over 43 percent from long range. He is a smart player and a good defender, who transferred to Virginia specifically to improve his defense.
He has a chance to thrive in New Orleans and will improve the defense and shooting.
As will second-round draft pick Herbert Jones, who looks like a steal and has some similarities to Draymond Green coming out of college.
Jones isn’t a great shooter yet, but he can defend and was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year last season for Alabama. Jones definitely fits the high-character defensive culture that the Pelicans need to build.
The New Orleans Pelicans also traded for Devonte’ Graham to replace Lonzo Ball. I think Lonzo is a smart player and a good teammate, but he was clearly unhappy with the role the Pelicans had him in, as he wanted to be more of a facilitator on offense.
“They believed that was the best for the team (playing off the ball),” he told reporters in Chicago. “So I just went with it.”
Devonte’ Graham doesn’t care about his role and will embrace whatever the Pelicans ask him to do. “Either way,” Graham said earlier this month, “starter, off the bench, sixth man, eighth man — whatever it is, I’m going to do it.”
There are questions about Graham’s defense but I think he’ll be a great teammate who will improve the team’s shooting and overall decision making, as he has a better assist-to-turnover ratio than Lonzo Ball.
These additions may not have impressed the national media, who are still questioning if the Pelicans have improved, but they show that Langdon is trying to stick with the plan for changing the Pelicans’ culture.